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Z^  r^t^^>XJ^Ar^A 


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m 

FRANCIS  SCOTT  KEY. 

1780-1843. 

(By  courtesy  of  the  Maryland  Historical  Society.) 


UBRARY  OF  CONGRESS 


*'The  Star  Spangled  Banner'* 


(Revised  and  enlarged  from  the  "Report"  on  the  above 
and  other  airs,  issued  in  1909) 


BY 


OSCAR  GEORGE  THEODORE  SONNECK 


CHIEF  OF  THE  DIVISION  OF  MUSIC 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFTICE 

1914 


L.  C.  card,  13-35008 


This  volume  is  for  sale  by  the 

Superintendent  of  Documents 

Government  Printing  Office 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Price,  85c. 


PREFATORY  NOTE 


In  December,  1907,  I  received  iusiructions  from  the  librarian  of 
Congress  to  "bring  together  the  various  versions  both  of  text  and  of 
music  with  notes  as  to  the  historical  evolution"  of  "The  Star 
Spangled  Banner,"  "Hail  Columbia,"  "America,"  and  "Yankee 
Doodle."  The  result  was  the  special  "Report "  issued  by  the  Library 
in  1909.  In  form  it  was  frankly  not  such  a  history  of  the  subject  as 
one  would  write  for  popular  consumption.  In  it  data  were  collected, 
eliminated,  or  verified;  popular  theories  founded  on  these  data  were 
analyzed,  their  refutation  or  acceptance  was  suggested,  and,  of  course, 
some  theories  of  my  o-wti  were  offered  for  critical  consideration.  All 
this  was  done  in  such  a  form  that  the  reader  was  at  no  step  supposed 
to  find  a  locked  door  between  himself  and  the  argument.  He  was 
not  expected  to  accept  a  single  statement  of  fact  or  argument  unless  the 
evidence  submitted  compelled  him  to  do  so.  This  plein  air  treatment 
of  a  popular  theme  distinguished  the  "Report "  somewhat  from  the  bulk 
of  the  literature  on  the  subject,  and  I  concluded  the  prefatory  note 
by  saying:  "In  short,  though  not  intended  for  popular  consumption, 
it  may  be  used  for  popular  consumption  vnih  reasonable  assurance  of 
accuracy." 

The  words  "reasonable  assurance  of  accuracy"  were  not  intended 
to  convey  the  impression  that  the  author  had  spoken  the  last  word  on 
every  phase  of  the  history  of  the  songs  treated  in  his  "Report." 
Sometimes  forced  to  find  a  way  out  of  a  dark  lab}Tinth  of  conflicting 
testimony,  he  knew  better  than  any  reader  of  his  "Report"  could 
possibly  know,  how  complicated  certain  matters  were.  Often  he 
could  not  go  beyond  his  authorities.  They  were  falhble  and  their 
errors  became  his,  unless  he  detected  them.  Detection  was  not  alwaA's 
so  very  simple  as  it  may  look  to  those  whose  ambition  it  is  to  clear 
just  one  of  innumerable  points.  However,  the  author  hoped  that  his 
"Report"  would  lead  to  the  discovery  of  new  data,  that  would  facili- 
tate the  solution  of  certain  problems  whidi  he  could  only  treat  at 
the  time  with  critical  caution  and  without  committing  the  reader  to 
his  personal  impressions.  Tliis  hope  has  ])eon  fulfdled.  The  "Report" 
of  1909  undoubtedly  stimulated  a  revival  of  interest  in  the  history  of 
the  songs  discussed.  With  this  revival  of  interest  came  renewed 
search  for  hidden  data  and  a  lively  controversy  arose  as  to  whether 
or  not  John  Stafford  Smith  composed  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven." 

3 


r»  c:  o / >  <  ik 


4  ''The    Star    Spangled    Banner" 

In  view  of  the  probability  that  in  September,  1914,  Francis  Scott 
Key's  memory  would  be  honored  by  numerous  celebrations  of  the 
centenary  of  his  ''Star  Spangled  Banner,"  the  Library  of  Congress 
decided  to  issue  the  chapter  on  his  national  song  separately  in  a  revised 
and  enlarged  edition.  It  was  to  embody  the  principal  literature  on 
the  subject  since  1909.  The  principle  and  method  of  treatment  were 
to  be  exactly  the  same  as  in  the  ''Report"  of  1909.  This  accounts 
for  the  technique  adopted  and  for  much  that  would  be  unnecessary 
and  unskillful  in  a  plain  historical  narrative. 

If  in  the  discussion  now  and  then  a  word  has  fallen  with  a  sting  to 
it,  the  reader,  it  is  hoped,  will  appreciate  how  difficult  it  sometimes  is, 
even  in  a  governmental  "Report"  to  suppress  entirely  the  personal 
note.  After  all,  Government  officials  are  human  beings  and  facts  do 
not  always  speak  for  themselves.  To  use  a  musical  simile,  in  a  com- 
plicated orchestral  composition  often  much  depends  on  the  instrumen- 
tation of  the  thematic  idea.  Its  development  may  be  entirely  logical, 
but,  unless  it  be  given  to  some  instrument  of  piercing  tone,  it  may  in 
that  particular  moment  not  reach  the  ears  of  the  audience  at  all. 

O.    G.    SONNECK 

Chief,  Music  Division 
Herbert  Putnam 

Librarian  of  Congress 

Washington,  B.C.,  January,  191  J,. 


POSTSCRIPT 

This  book  was  ready  for  the  binder  when  word  reached  me  that 
the  discussion  between  Father  Henry  and  Dr.  Grattan  Flood  would 
be  continued  in  the  June  number  of  the  "American  Catholic  His- 
torical Society  of  Philadelphia  Records."  The  conclusions  reached 
in  my  book  are  not  affected  in  the  slightest  thereby,  inasmuch  as 
Dr.  Grattan  Flood  admittedly  was  unable  to  prove  his  sudden  and 
startling  theory  that  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  was  sung  at  Dublin 
in  1762  and  at  Edinburgh  in  1755.  From  data  since  searched  for 
me  in  Dublin  sources,  but  received  too  late  for  insertion  in  this  edi- 
tion of  my  book,  I  have  gained  the  impression  that  Dr.  Grattan 
Flood  was  misled  into  his  theory  by  some  unfortunate  but  pardon- 
able error  in  his  notes. 

O.  G.  SoNNECK 

Wiesbaden,  June,  1914 


CONTENTS 


Page 

Prefatory  note  .  3-4 

Introductory  remarks 7-8 

"To  Anacreon  xn  Heaven" ^-^3 

"The  Star-Spangled  Banner" 65-103 

Literature  used  for  this  Report 105-109 

Index Hl-H^ 

Appendix:  Illustrations:  Plate 

1.  "The  Anacreontick  Song  harmonized  by  the  author,"'  on  p.  33  of  John 

StaffordSmith'3"FifthBookof  Canzonets,"  [1799]        ...  I 

2.  Title-page  of  the  same  book II 

3.  The  Anne  Lee,  Dublin  edition  of  "The  Anacreontic  Song"       .         .  Ill 

4.  The  E.  Rhames,  Dublin  edition  of  "The  Anacreontic  Song"         .         .       IV 

5.  Earliest  known  publication  (1778)  of  the  text  of  "To  Anacreon  in 

Heaven" ^ 

6  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  from  "The  Vocal  Enchantress,"  London, 

1783 VI 

7  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  from  Exshaw's  London  Magazine,  Dublin, 

1791 VII 

8.  The  original  Longman  &  Broderip,  26  Cheapside,  issue  of  "The  Ana- 

creontic Song,"  [178—] VIII 

9.  The  later  Longman  &  Broderip,  26  Cheapside  and  13  Hajonarket,  issue 

of  "The  Anacreontic  Song,"  [178— ] IX 

10.  Paine's  "Adams  and  Liberty,"  American  Musical  Miscellany,  1798  X 

11.  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  from  The  Baltimore  Musical  Miscellany, 

1804 XI 

12.  W.  Howe's  edition  (1798?)  of  "Adams  and  Liberty"      ....     XII 

13.  The  earliest  dated  publication  of  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner"  text         XIII 

14.  The  text  as  printed  in  the  Baltimore  American,  September  21,  1814     .    XIV 

15.  The  original  broadside XV 

IG.  The  original  manuscript  of  the  final  text  of  Francis  Scott  Key's  "Star 

Spangled  Banner "  XVI 

17.  The  Keim  Autograph •      .        •      XVII-XVIII 

18.  Mr.  Dobbin's  facsimile  of  the  Keim  autograph  ....        XIX 

19.  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  as  in  the  "New  York  Normal  Song 

Book,"  1851 XX 

20.  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  as  in  "Fillmore's  New  Nightingale  .  . 

on  a  mathematically  constructed  plan  of  notation,"   Cincinnati, 

1857 XXI 

21.  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner  "as  in  "The  Vocalist's  Pocket  Companion," 

Chambersburg,  1839  ("buckwheat"  or  "patent"  notes)      .         .         .  XXII 
22    Firth  and   Hall's  edition  of  "The  Star  Soangled  Banner"  (183—) 

XXIII-XXIV 
23.  Geib  &  Co.'s  edition  of  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  (betw.  1816 

and  1825) XXV 

5 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 


In  the  "Report  on  'The  Star-Spangled  Banner,'  'Hail  Columbia,' 
'America,'  'Yankee  Doodle'"  (Washington,  Government  Printing 
Office,  1909),  the  chapter  on  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  began 
with  an  account  of  the  origin  of  Francis  Scott  Key's  poem.  This 
was  followed  by  a  brief  summary  of  the  European  and  American 
history  of  the  tune  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  to  which  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner"  is  sung,  by  a  comparative  investigation  of  extant 
manuscripts  of  Key's  poem,  and  finally  by  a  survey  of  the  different 
versions  of  the  melody  as  now  in  use.  For  this  revised  and  enlarged 
edition  of  the  chapter  a  division  into  two  independent  sections  was 
found  to  be  more  logical  and  convenient,  one  on  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven,"  the  other  on  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  proper. 

As  a  prelude  to  this  chapter  it  is  not  necessary,  but  it  may  not  be 
inadvisable  to  state,  in  view  of  certain  tendencies  to  the  contrary  in 
the  matter  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  that  research  in  musical 
history,  in  common  with  every  other  kind  of  historical  research, 
aims  solely  at  the  orderly  establishment  of  facts  and  the  logical 
interpretation  of  available  facts.  Such  facts  or  the  conclusions 
from  such  facts  may  not  always  be  welcome,  but  the  historian  is 
or  should  be  a  seeker  after  historical  truth,  often  enough  stranger 
and  more  "romantic"  than  fiction.  He  should  never  allow  possible 
preferences  of  his  compatriots  or  his  personal  idiosyncrasies  to 
obscure  his  historical  vision. 

For  instance,  every  patriotic  American  would  rejoice,  with  the 
author  of  this  "Report,"  if  it  could  be  shown  by  documentary  or 
other  unimpeachable  evidence  that  "  The  Star-Spangled  Banner," 
both  in  words  and  music,  was  of  American  origin.  If  that  can  not 
be  shown,  then  every  patriotic  American  will  be  sensible  enough  not 
to  betray  irritation  of  his  patriotic  pride  because  the  music  of  our 
"Star-Spangled  Banner"  had  its  origin  in  some  "monarchical" 
country  of  Europe,  whether  that  be  Turkey,  Russia,  Germany,  France, 


8  ''The    Star    Spangled    Banner" 

England,  or  Ireland.  Nor  is  there  any  patriotic  reason,  so  far  as  I 
can  see,  why  the  citizens  of  the  repubUcan  United  States  of  America, 
founded  by  men  of  English,  German,  Irish,  or  other  descent,  and 
fought  for  by  Irishmen  against  Irishmen,  Englishmen  against  English- 
men, Germans  against  Germans,  should  be  expected  to  smart  under 
the  theory  that  ''To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  was  of  English,  not  of 
Irish,  French,  or  German,  origin,  and  to  prefer,  for  instance,  an  Irish 
to  an  English  composer.  We  took  the  air  and  we  kept  it.  Trans- 
planted on  American  soil,  it  thrived.  As  " To  Anacreon  in  Heaven" 
of  European  origin  the  air  is  obsolete  and  extinct;  as  the  air  of  "The 
Star-Spangled  Banner,"  it  stirs  the  blood  of  every  American,  regard- 
less of  his  origin  or  the  origin  of  the  air. 


jony  .\'TJf-'F<i)h'/»  %'}/fT/f. 


I'fm.m.l.  ',„  cl- 


1750-1836. 
(By  courtesy  of  the  British  Museum.) 


TO  ANACREON  IN  HEAT^N 


For  methodological  reasons  it  will  be  best  to  first  submit,  with  as 
little  preliminary  comment  as  possible,  the  different  theories  on  the 
origin  and  authorship  of  the  song.  If  at  all  of  a  critical  bend  of  mind, 
the  reader  will  not  fail  to  notice  how  these  different  theories  either 
strengthen  or  weaken  each  other  in  certain  details,  without  being 
subjected  to  critical  cross-examination.  He  will  further  notice  how 
some  of  these  theories  not  only  contradict  each  other,  but  how  full 
they  are  of  contradictions  withm  themselves,  not  to  mention  the 
amusing  spectacle  of  one  and  the  same  author  presenting  within  three 
years  two  totally  different  theories  and  both  times  with  equally 
emphatic  assertiveness.  The  survey  of  theories  will  be  followed  by 
a  survey  of  the  bibliographical  history  of  the  song,  i.  e.,  extant  ver- 
sions of  the  song  in  British  eighteenth  century  publications,  so  far  as 
known  to  me,  will  be  examined  with  an  attempt  to  establish  their 
chronological  order. 

This  method  of  procedure  wtU  permit  the  automatic  elimination  of 
obvious  nonsense.  It  will  clear  the  path  for  a  critical  analysis  of  the 
controversy  on  John  Stafford  Smith's  authorship  of  the  air  and  it 
will  enable  the  critical  reader  to  accept  or  reject  the  conclusions 
reached  by  me  in  a  fairly  complicated  structure  of  argument. 

In  Notes  and  Queries,  second  series,  1861,  volume  12,  page  310, 
there  appeared  a  note  on  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  by  one 
"Uneda"  to  the  effect  that— 

This  song,  wHch  is  now  to  be  heard  everywhere  in  the  United  States,  is  sung  to 
the  tune  of  ' '  Anacreon  in  Heaven . "  Was  there  not  a  Ftill  older  song  to  this  tune, 
commencing  "^^^len  Blbo  went  down  to  the  regions  below?  "  It  has  been  stated 
that  this  song  was  an  Irish  bacchanalian  song."  I^^  the  air  IrL«h?  Is  it  known 
who  was  the  composer  of  it? 


o  In  the  context  "this  song"  refers  to  "When  Bibo,  "  not  "To  ^Vnacreon  in  Heaven." 
Two  versions  of  the  text  of  ' '  "VSTien  Bibo  "  appear  to  exist.  In  the  Vocal  Magazine, 
1778,  on  page  7  appears  as  ' '  Song  6 .  A  two-part  song.  Written  by  Mr.  Prior.  When 
Bibo  thought  fit  from  the  world  to  retreat''  (one  stanza  of  six  lines,  no  tune  indicated). 
The  three-stanza  text  of  "When  Bibo  went  down  to  the  regions  below,  "  as  compari- 
son will  show,  is  merely  an  amplified  paraphrase  of  Prior's  text.  In  the  Universal 
Songster,  Volume  III,  London  [1827],  thore  appears  the  "When  Bibo  went  down" 
text  with  note  "Air:  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven. "  I  tried  to  sing  the  text  to  the  air, 
but  I  failed,  except  for  the  first  few  lines,  which  go  well  with  "To  Anacreon    in 


10 


The    Star   Spangled   Banner 


I  pass  on  to  a  note  on  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner'"  contributed 
to  Notes  and  Queries  (3d  ser.,  1864,  vol.  6,  pp.  429-430)  by  William 
Pinkerton.  He  did  not  pretend  to  know  the  composer  of  the  "old 
English  song"  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven, "  but  he  rendered  us  a  serv- 
ice by  mentioning  several  parodies  of  "To  Anacreon, "  as  for  instance, 
''Britannia — To  Neptune  enthroned,  as  he  governed  the  sea," 
*' Satan's  visit  to  the  Jacohine  Club — To  old  Satan  in  Hell,  where  he 
sat  in  full  glee"  <»  and  again,  as  sirng  to  the  same  tune,  "When  Bibo 
went  down, "  mentioning  both  versions  of  the  text. 

For  a  long  time  the  tune  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  was  often 
attributed,  if  attributed  to  any  particular  composer  at  all,  to  Dr. 
Samuel  Arnold  (1740-1802).  Of  this  opinion  were  J.  C.  (in  Balti- 
more Chpper,  1841),  Nason  (1869),  Salisbury  (1872),  and  others. 
The  general  inability  to  substantiate  this  nmior  finally  led  to  one 
of  the  most  grotesquely  absurd  articles  in  musical  Uterature,  namely, 
that  in  the  American  Art  Journal,  1896  (vol.  68,  whole  no.  1729, 
pp.  194-195),  by  J.  Fairfax  McLaughlin,  under  the  title  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner.  Who  composed  the  music  for  it?  It  is  American, 
not  English."     Mr.  McLaughlin  challenged  any  man  to  point  out  an 

Heaven."     Others  may  find  it  possible  to  stretch,  the  '"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven" 
melody  so  as  to  cover  the  long  "When  Bibo  went  down"  stanza. 

In  Da\ddson's  Universal  Melodist,  Volume  I,  London,  1847,  "When  Bibo  went 
down"  is  printed  with  the  note  "The  words  by  Thomas  Dibdin.     The  music  by 
Travers. "    This  melody  runs 
Allegro 


When  Bi 


bo  went  down      to  the  re  -  gions  be  -  low,   when      Le  -  the 


(This  downward  movement  of  the  melody  obviously  fits  the  words  better  than  the 
upward  movement  of  the  "Anacreon  in  Heaven"  melody.  This  is  another  reason 
why  I  believe  that  the  editor  of  the  Universal  Songster  was  mistaken.) 

Davidson  attributed  this  melody  to  John  Travers  (1703-June,  1758),  but  in  Travers' 
"Eighteen  canzonets,  for  two,  and  three  voices:  the  words  chiefly  by  M.  Prior,  "  first 
published  at  London  about  1745,  text  and  melody  of  "Canzonet  lY.  An  epigram  by 
Matt.  Prior"  run  as  follows: 


i 


ffi 


^ 


^m 


^# 


"When     Bi    -  bo 


thought    fit 


— y ?^ 

from  the  world      to 


re  -  treat 


and  the  same  melody  appeared  in  the  later  separate  issues  of  Travers'  "favourite 
canzonets"! 

a  This  parody  appears  to  be  identical  with  the  one  printed  without  music,  so  Mr; 
Frank  Kidson  informed  me  on  November  29,  1913,  in  "The  M\Ttle  and  The  Vine,  " 
1803,  Volume  II,  page  126,  as  "Satan's  visit  to  the  Jacobine  Club." 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  11 

English  publication  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  prior  to  that  of 
"words  and  music"  by  Matthew  Carey  in  liis  Vocal  Magazine,  Phila- 
delphia, 1796  (a  book  of  mysterious  whereabouts,  by  the  way,  as  will 
appear  later).  Mr.  McLaughlin  further  found  "after  a  rather  ex- 
haustive search"  that  the  fii'st  publication  of  the  song  in  Great 
Britain  occurred  in  the  Universal  Songster,  "pubhshed  at  London 
from  1825  to  1834."  From  this  faulty  claim  of  first  appearance  in 
America  Mr.  McLaughlin  reached  out  for  the  conclusion :  "The  air  as 
well  as  the  words  of  our  national  anthem  appear  to  belong  not  to 
England  but  to  the  United  States." 

In  view  of  such  naive  and  rather  irritating  ignorance  it  was  easy 
for  X.  in  the  Musical  Times,  of  London,  1896  (pp.  516-519)  to 
challenge  Mr.  McLaughlin  to  mortal  combat  and  to  elaborately  bury 
his  patriotic  aspirations.  The  same  service  could  have  been  rendered 
him  just  as  neatly  and  more  quickly  by  a  simple  reference  to  the 
footnote  on  page  6  of  ^Ir.  Stephen  SaUsbury's  "Essay  on  the  Star- 
Spangled  Banner,"  1873,  where  the  contents  of  a  pertinent  letter 
from  Mr.  WiUiam  Chappell,  the  distinguished  Enghsh  music  mer- 
chant and  scholar,  were  made  pubHc  or  to  an  occasional  article  con- 
tributed by  Mr.  Chappell  to  Notes  and  Queries,  1873  (fourth  ser., 
vol.  11,  pp.  50-51),  from  which  I  quote  the  following: 

In  the  second  half  of  the  last  century  a  very  jovial  society,  called  The  Anacreon- 
tic, held  its  festive  and  musical  meetings  at  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern  in  the 
Strand,  "a  large  and  curious  house,  with  good  rooms  and  other  convenience, 
fit  for  entertainments",  says  Strype.  It  is  now  the  WTiittington  Club,  but  in 
the  last  century  it  was  frequented  by  such  men  as  Dr.  Johnson,  Boswell,  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds,  and  Dr.  Percy,  especially  to  sup  there.  A  certain  Ralph 
Tomlinson,  Esq.,  was  at  one  time  president  of  the  Anacreontic  Society,  and 
he  wrote  the  words  of  the  song  adopted  by  the  club,  while  John  Stafford  Smith 
set  them  to  music. 

The  style  of  the  club  will  be  best  exemplified  by  the  first  and  last  stanzas  of 
the  song.  [Then  follow  these  two  stanzas  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven. "]  The 
last  two  lines  of  each  stanza  were  repeated  in  chorus. 

One  of  the  early  editions  of  the  words  and  music  is  entitled  "The  Anacreontic 
Song,  as  sung  at  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern  in  the  Strand,  the  words  by 
Ralph  Tomlinson,  Esq.,  late  President  of  that  Society.  Price  6d.  Printed 
by  Longman  &  Broderip,  No.  26,  Cheapside,  and  No.  13,  Haymarket."  Here 
the  author  of  the  music  is  unnamed,  but  it  is  in  "A  fifth  Book  of  Canzonets, 
Catches,  Canons,  and  Glees,  sprightly  and  plaintive.  ...  by  John  Staf- 
ford Smith,  Gent.,  of  His  Majesty's  Chapels  Royal,  author  of  the  favourite  glees, 
'Blest  pair  of  Sirens,'  'Hark  the  hollow  Woods,'  and  of  'The  Anacreontic,'  and 
other  popular  songs.  Printed  for  the  author,  and  sold  at  his  house.  No.  7,  War- 
wick Street,  Spring  Gardens,  and  at  the  music  shops. "  At  page  33  of  this  collec- 
tion is  "The  Anacreontic  Song,"  harmonized  by  the  author. 

I  have  not  referred  to  Stationers'  Hall  for  the  date  of  the  Anacreontic  Song, 
but  the  words  and  music  are  included  in  Calliope,  or  the  Musical  Miscellany, 
published  in  Edinburgh,  in  1788,  8vo.;  and,  before  that,  they  were  published 
in  The  Edinburgh  Musical  Miscellany,  of  which  the  date  is  torn  off  in  my  copy. 
If  any  regard  to  copyright  was  paid  in  those  publications  (which  is  by  no  means 


12  "The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

certain),  the  fourteen  years  of  author's  right  must  then  have  expired,  and  the 
date  of  the  eong  would  be  between  1770  and  1775.  According  to  the  Biographical 
Dictionary  of  Musicians,  John  Stafford  Smith  was  born  "about  1750,"  was  the 
Bon  of  the  organist  of  Gloucester  Cathedral,  and  was  afterwards  a  pupil  of  Dr. 
Boyce — probably  in  the  Chapel  Royal,  as  ultimately  he  became  a  gentleman 
of  the  Chapels.  With  such  an  education  he  might  well  have  composed  the 
music  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  twenty-five.  The  contrary  motion  be- 
tween the  voice  part  and  the  bass  shows  the  musician. 

Mr.  Chappell  had  not  included  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  in  his 
standard  work,  "Old  Enghsh  Popular  Music,"  and  so  llx.  H.  EUis 
Woolbridge  had  no  occasion  to  include  the  above  account  in  his 
revised  edition  (1893)  of  Chappell's  lastingly  useful  work.  Otherwise 
certain  inaccuracies  probably  would  have  disappeared  from  Chap- 
pell's account.  However,  on  the  whole  his  short,  occasional  article 
has  the  earmarks  of  correctness,  and  his  deductions  were  accepted 
imtil  recently  as  logical  so  far  as  Smith's  authorship  of  the  air  is 
concerned.  They  were  followed,  for  instance,  by  Mr.  Frank  Kidson 
in  Grove's  Dictionary  of  Music  and  Musicians,  1908.  In  his  neces- 
sarily brief  article,  Mr.  Kidson  dated  Smith's  Fifth  Book  as  "circa 
1780,"  called  attention  to  the  claims  of  American  origin,  and,  as 
had  done  X.  in  the  Musical  Times,  pointed  out  the  appearance  of 
the  text  of  the  poem  in  The  Vocal  Magazine,  1778. 

In  the  book  on  "English  Music  (1604  to  1904),  being  the  lectures 
given  at  the  Music  Loan  Exhibition  of  the  Worshipful  Company  of 
Musicians,  held  at  Fishmongers'  Hall,  London  Bridge,  June-July, 
1904,"  London,  1906,  Mr.  WiUiam  H.  Cummings  in  his  lecture  on 
"Om-  Enghsh  Songs"  had  this  to  say  on  page  51: 

I  would  fain  dwell  on  this  union  of  race,  this  marriage  of  heart  and  voice,  and 
will  therefore  call  your  attention  to  a  song,  the  product  of  an  Englishman,  which 
has,  by  adoption,  become  one  of  the  national  songs  of  our  kith  and  kin  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  beloved  by  all  our 
brethren  in  the  United  States,  was  originally  composed  by  John  Stafford  Smith, 
in  London,  about  1750,  for  a  club  which  met  at  the  "Crown  and  Anchor  "  Tavern 
in  the  Strand.  The  club  was  called  the  "Anacreontic",  and  for  its  social  gath- 
erings the  president,  Ralph  Tomlinson,  wrote  an  ode  commencing  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven".  This  was  first  published  without  a  composer's  name,  but  shortly 
afterwards  Smith  brought  out  a  collection  of  Canzonets,  Catches,  and  Glees, 
which  he  sold  at  his  house,  7  Warwick  Street,  Spring  Gardens.  In  this  volume, 
which  contained  only  compositions  by  himself,  we  find  ' '  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven. " 
The  music  of  the  Anacreon  ode  and  that  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  is  the 
same.  I  have  brought  a  copy  of  the  original  publication  of  the  ode  .  .  .  [On  p. 
52  the  air  with  words  of  first  stanza  is  added  in  C  major.  On  pp.  65-66  Mr.  Cum- 
mings says  and  this  with  the  above  is  all  he  says  on  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven:"] 

The  volume  which  contains  the  original  publication  of  [M.  Arne's]  "The  lass 
with  the  delicate  air",  and  also  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven",  I  have  here.  It 
is  a  very  remarkable  collection  of  116  sheet-songs,  put  together  in  the  years  1778-82. 
Amongst  other  curios  are  some  songs  "printed  and  sold  by  H.  Fougt,  at  the 
'Lyre  and  Owl',  in  St.  Martin's  Lane,  near  Long-acre.  The  choicest  ballads 
at  a  peimy  a  piece,  or  eighteen  for  a  shilling. "  There  would  have  been  no  room 
for  the  street  pirates  in  those  days. 


"The   Star   Spangled   Banner"  13 

This  brief  account  has  been  inserted  here  for  reasons  that  will 
appear  later.  Mr.  Cummings's  date  ''about  1750"  may  be  merely  a 
misprint,  because  John  Stafford  Smith  O750-183Q)  can  not  very  weU 
have  composed  anything  ''about  1750,"  because  the  "Anacreontic 
Society"  did  not  exist  until  about  15  years  later,  and  because  the 
title  page  of  the  collection  of  canzonets,  etc.,  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Cummings  (Smith's  Fifth  Book)  can  not  have  been  pubhshed  until  after 
Smith  had  been  appointed  a  "Gent,  of  His  Majesty's  Chapels  Royal" 
on  December  16,  1784.  The  significance  of  this  last  fact,  though 
plainly  put  forth  in  both  editions  of  Grove's  Dictionary,  escaped  me 
at  the  time  of  writing  my  "Report"  in  1909,  as  it  had  escaped  Mr. 
Chappell  in  1873.  The  entry  in  Grove  was  called  to  my  attention  by 
Mr.  W.  H.  Grattan  Flood  in  a  letter  of  date  December  29,  1909. 

End  of  May,  1909,  Mr.  A.  H.  RoSewig,  of  Philadelphia,  copyrighted 
a  4-page  folio  sheet  with  title  "Anacreon  in  Heaven.  The  origin  of 
'The  Star  Spangled-Banner'  with  its  complete  history,  by  A.  H. 
RoSewig,  Mus.  Doc."  In  tliis  article,  which  originally  had  appeared 
in  the  Philadelphia  North  American,  Sunday,  February  14,  1909, 
Mr.  RoSewig  lays  claim  to  sundry  discoveries  in  support  of  John 
Stafford  Smith's  authorship  of  the  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  air. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  Mr.  RoSewig  discovered  nothing  that  was  not 
known  to  others  and  accessible  in  the  printed  literature  on  the  sub- 
ject. The  center  of  interest  in  his  article  is  held  by  a  twentieth 
century  transcript  of  "The  Anacreontic  Song"  with  title  and  imprint 
in  type,  as  if  in  imitation  of  that  used  by  Anne  Lee,  Dublin,  in  her 
pubUcation  of  the  song.  However,  Mr.  RoSewig  has  added  the  date 
"Anno  1780"  to  the  imprint,  which  contains  no  such  date  in  Anne 
Lee's  publication,  and  his  transcript  of  the  song  is  followed  (in  type, 
not  in  manuscript)  by  the  remark  "Also  harmonised  by  the  author 
in  his  Fifth  Book  of  Popular  Songs,  Catches,  etc.,  page  33."  I  feel 
confident  that  if  Mr.  RoSewig  had  foreseen  how  these  additions  to 
his  transcript  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  might  create  confusion, 
as  they  did,  that  he  would  have  preferred  to  print  a  photographic 
facsimile  of  Anne  Lee's  publication  instead  of  a  transcript  with  mis- 
leading comment. 

To  this  article  of  Mr.  RoSewig's  the  editor  of  Church  Music  (a  very 
excellent  magazine,  now  unfortunately  defunct)  drew  attention  in 
the  miscellaneous  "Notes"  of  the  May  number,  1909.  Thereupon 
he  received  from  Mr.  W.  H.  Grattan  Flood,  of  Eimisworthy,  Ireland, 
an  article  called  "The  original  air  of  The  Star-Spangled  Baimer" 
with  subheading  "Notes  on  the  Origin  of  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven," 
and  this  article  appeared  in  Church  Music,  September,  1909,  pages 
281-282.  Except  for  the  introductory  remarks,  it  is  identical  with 
manuscript  "Notes  on  the  origin  of  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  sent 
me  under  date  of  June  5,  1908,  by  Mr.  Grattan  Flood  during  the 


14  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

course  of  a  correspondence  with  him  and  other  British  authors  on 
certain  phases  of  the  ''Star-Spangled  Banner"  subject.  These 
"Notes"  came  to  me  so  unsohcited  and  unexpected  that  I  thanked 
Mr.  Grattan  Flood  under  date  of  June  29,  1909,  for  "having  gone  out 
of  his  way  to  help  me."  In  my  "Report"  of  1909,  "while  fully 
appreciating  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Grattan  Flood  in  transmitting 
these  notes,"  I  regretted  "the  inadvisabihty  of  using  them,  except 
in  connection  with  other  sources,  because  these  notes  are  singularly 
at  variance  with  the  contents  of  several  letters  sent  me  by  Mr.  Grattan 
Flood  on  the  same  subject,  and  because  these  notes  contain  certain 
positive  statements  without  reference  to  source  which  it  would  be 
unmethodical  to  accept  unreservedly." 

Mr.  Grattan  Flood's  article  in  Church  Music  reads  as  follows: 

THE    ORIGINAL    AIR    OF    "tHE    STAR-SPANGLED    BANNER." 

In  the  May  issue  of  Church  Music  I  find  a  correspondent  belauding  the  recent 
discovery  of  the  original  composer  of  the  air  to  which  the  "Star-Spangled  Banner  " 
is  Bung.  This  announcement  is  somewhat  belated.  It  is  now  some  six  years 
since  I  examined  the  Dublin  printed  copy  of  the  original  song  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven,"  and  I  also  examined  the  copy  containing  the  information  that  the 
music  was  composed  by  John  Stafford  Smith.  In  June,  1904 — over  five  years 
ago — Dr.  Cummings,  in  his  lecture  on  "Old  English  Songs"  at  the  Music  Loan 
Exhibition  in  London,  proved  conclusively  that  Smith  was  the  composer, 
and  exhibited  a  copy  of  the  setting  which  Smith,  in  1771,  sold  at  his 
house.  No.  7  Warwick  Street,  Spring  Gardens.  This  lecture  is  included  in 
English  Music,  published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York,  in  the  admirable 
"Music  Story  Series." 

In  January,  1908, 1  was  asked  by  Mr.  0.  G.  Sonneck,  head  of  the  Music  Division 
in  the  Library  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D.  C,  to  write  some  notes  on  "Yankee 
Doodle"  (proving  it  an  Irish  air)  and  on  the  original  air  to  which  the  Anacreontic 
ode  was  siing,  to  form  part  of  an  ofiicial  report  on  the  National  Airs  ot  America 
to  be  presented  to  Congress.**  I  herewith  subjoin  my  notes  on  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven,"  as,  doubtless,  they  will  prove  of  interest  to  many  readers  of  Church 
Music.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  while  "Yankee  Doodle"  is  of  Irish  origin  the 
"Star-Spangled  Banner"  had  ita  provenance  in  England. 

NOTES   ON   THE    GRIGLN    OP    "tO   ANACREON   IN    HEAVEN." 

There  is  much  confusion  as  to  the  authorship  of  the  song  ''To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven."  However,  it  is  now  tolerably  certain  that  the  song  was  written  by 
Ralph  Tomlinson  in  1770  or  1771,  as  the  charter  song  of  the  Anacreontic  Society. 

As  to  the  melody,  it  was  composed  by  John  Stafford  Smith,  a  pupil  of  Dr. 
Boyce,  in  1771. 

There  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  fact  that  Ralph  Tomlinson  wrote  the  song  in  the 
winter  of  1770.    He  was  president  of  the  Anacreontic  Society,  which  met  in  the 

o  But  compare  my  statement  above.  Furthermore,  far  from  accepting  Mr.  Grattan 
Flood's  theory  of  the  identity  of  the  Irish  time  "All  the  Way  to  Galway"  with 
"Yankee  Doodle,"  a  comparison  of  the  two  tunes  (see  my  "Report"  of  1909,  pp.  146- 
150)  has  demonstrated,  I  believe,  to  the  satisfaction  of  most  everj'body  except  Mr. 
Grattan  Flood,  that  the  two  tunes  are  characteristically  different.  This  difference 
does  not,  of  course,  preclude  the  possibility  of  an  Irish  origin  of  "Yankee  Doodle." 


"The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  15 

Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern,  London,  and  there  is  ample  evidence  that  his  song 
was  sung  from  1771  onwards.  The  words  were  printed  on  broadsides,  and 
appeared  in  the  Vocal  Magazine  for  1778.  Four  years  later  (1782)  Mr.  Mulia  was 
appointed  President,  and  he  sang  the  charter  song  on  several  occasions  in  the 
years  1782-3.  At  a  later  meeting  on  January  10th,  1791,  Haydn  was  present 
when  the  song  was  sung.     The  Anacreontic  Society  was  dissolved  in  1796. 

Elson  in  his  National  Music  of  America,  and  again  in  his  History  of  American 
Music,  says  that  the  composer  of  the  tune  to  which  "To  Anacreon"  was  sung, 
was  either  Dr.  Arnold  or  John  Stafford  Smith,  and  he  waxes  merry  at  the  thought 
that  "  there  is  no  tune  resembling  it  in  Smith's  Musica  Antiqua  " — quite  oblivious 
of  the  fact  that  Smith's  work  of  that  name  contained  only  music  "from  the  12th 
to  the  beginning  of  the  18th  century." 

Smith  was  in  his  21st  year  when  he  composed  the  music  in  1770-1,  and  internal 
evidence  clearly  points  to  the  influence  of  Boyce,  under  whom  he  was  then 
studying,  and  some  of  the  phrases  are  strongly  reminiscent  of  Boyce's  "Heart 
of  Oak." 

The  words  and  music  of  "To  Anacreon"  were  published  by  Longman  and 
Broderip  in  1779-1780,  and  were  reprinted  by  Anne  Lee  of  Dublin  (71780)  in 
1781.  Dr.  Cummings  says  that  he  saw  a  copy  printed  by  Henry  Fought — at 
least  it  is  made  up  with  single  sheet  songs  printed  by  Fought — but  this  ia  scarcely 
likely,  as  Fought  did  not  print  after  1770,  and  the  song  and  music  were  not  in 
existence  till  1770-71.     The  copy  in  the  Vocal  Magazine  (1778)  has  no  music. 

The  most  decisive  proof  of  the  fact  that  the  tune  was  composed  by  Smith  is 
that  he  includes  it  in  his  Fifth  Collection  of  Canzonets,  Catches,  etc.,  in  1781. 
(His  name  does  not  appear  in  Longman  and  Broderip's  issue,  nor  in  that  of 
Anne  Lee  in  1780).  The  song  with  music  was  published  by  Brown,  of  Perth 
(Scotland),  in  his  Musical  Miscellany,  in  1786.  A  copy  of  this  rare  book  is  in 
the  writer's  musical  library.     Two  years  later  it  appeared  in  Calliope  (1788). 

Apparently  the  song  (and  tune)  was  brought  to  America  about  the  year  1790, 
and  it  was  sung  on  August  10,  1796,  at  Savannah,  as  chronicled  by  Mr.  O.  J. 
Sonneck  in  his  admirable  Early  Concert  Life  in  America.  No  doubt,  it  was  sung 
in  1795  and  subsequently  by  the  Columbian  Anacreontic  Society.  Anyhow,  it 
was  popularized  in  America  between  the  years  1795  and  1797,  and  at  length  was 
adapted  by  Paine  in  May,  1798,  for  "Adams  and  Liberty,"  printed  in  1798. 

Holden  of  Dublin  printed  the  Anacreontic  Song  to  Masonic  words  in  1796, 
and  it  was  reprinted  in  1802.  Elson's  copy  of  what  he  styles  the  "Original 
Music  "  is  not  quite  correct. 

(Signed)  "W.  H.  Grattan  Flood, 

Mus.D.,  K.  S.  G.,  M.  R.  I.  A. 

Enniscobthy,  June  5th,  1908. 

A  tone  of  finality  sounds  through  this  article,  but  the  same  tone  of 
finaUty  is  even  louder  in  an  article,  again  hy  Mr.  W.  H.  Grattan  Flood, 
which  appeared  in  the  magazine  Ave  Maria  on  July  6,  1912,  pages 
19-20,  under  the  title  of  "The  Irish  origin  of  the  tune  of  The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner."  In  this  article,  drawn  to  my  attention  by  Rev. 
H.  T.  Henry,  of  Philadelphia,  formerly  editor  of  Church  Music,  Mr. 
W.  H.  Grattan  Flood  says: 

It  being,  therefore,  admitted  as  beyond  any  question  that  Francis  Scott  Key 
adapted  his  song  to  the  tune  of  "Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  the  question  remains  as 
to  the  origin  of  the  tune.  Mr.  Sonneck  is  wrong  in  following  Chappell's  view 
both  as  regards  the  composer  of  the  melody  and  the  date.     He  says  that  John 


16  ''The   Star   Spangled   Banner" 

Stafford  Smith  included  the  tune  in  his  Fifth  Book  of  Canzonets,  published 
between  1780  and  1790,  and  that  Smith  "probably"  composed  it  about  the  year 
1771. 

Let  jne  here  definitely  state  that  Smith  himself  never  claimed  the  tune  as 
his,  although  he  lived  after  the  tune  had  been  sung  for  thirty  years,  and  even 
after  Key  had  adapted  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  to  "Anacreon  in  Heaven." 
It  is  simply  amazing  how  one  writer  blindly  copies  another  without  taking  paina 
to  verify  facts.  Mr.  Sonneck  complacently  followed  the  statement  made  by 
Chappell  as  to  the  music  of  "Anacreon  in  Heaven." 

The  song  was  known  in  1771,  and  at  that  date  Smith  had  composed  nothing. 
He  was  born  in  1750,  and  studied  under  Dr.  Boyce.  His  first  efforts  were  a  catch 
and  a  canon  in  1773.  The  earliest  appearance  in  print  of  the  song  was  in  1771, 
and  it  was  included  in  a  song-book  called  "The  Vocal  Magazine;  or,  Compleat 
British  Songster,"  in  1778.  Two  years  later  the  music  and  words  were  printed 
by  Anne  Lee,  of  Dublin;  and  they  were  reprinted  in  the  Vocal  Enchantress  in  1783. 

In  order  to  bolster  up  Stafford  Smith's  claim  as  a  composer  of  the  tune,  Chap- 
pell and  his  copyists  give  the  date  of  his  Fifth  Book  of  Canzonets  as  "1780  or 
1785."  Fortunately  for  historical  accuracy,  a  wealthy  Irish-American,  Mr. 
John  Henry  Blake,  went  to  the  Copyright  Office,  Stationers'  Hall,  London,  and 
searched  the  record  indexes  of  the  copyright  department  from  1746  to  1799,  inclu- 
sively, with  the  result  that  he  discovered  the  actual  date  on  which  Smith  entered 
the  copyright,  namely,  May  14,  1799.  This  was  not  the  only  discovery  made  by 
Mr.  Blake.  He  also  found  indisputable  evidence  that  Smith  merely  arranged 
the  tune  in  the  form  of  a  "glee,"  and  that  he  did  not  claim  any  copjTight  for  the 
tune.  Nay,  more:  Smith  lived  till  the  year  1836,  and  he  never  asserted  his 
claim  as  composer  of  his  melody,  although  Key  had  written  "The  Star-Spangled 
Banner"  to  it  in  1814.  Surely  it  stands  to  reason  that  if  Smith  had  composed 
the  tune,  and  that  the  said  tune  (whether  set  to  "Anacreon  in  Heaven"  and 
"The  Star-Spangled  Banner")  had  been  sung,  printed,  and  circulated  all  over 
the  British  possessions  and  in  America,  he  would,  as  a  true  Britisher,  have 
asserted  his  claim  to  it. 

An  examination  of  Smith's  Fifth  Book  of  Canzonets  reveals  not  only  the  inter- 
esting fact  that  this  fourth-rate  musician  merely  arranged  the  long-existing  melody 
of  "Anacreon,"  but  he  also  arranged,  in  a  different  voliune,  another  Anacreontic 
song,  and  likewise  "God  save  the  King,"  and  had  the  audacity  to  assert  that 
"the  whole  was  composed  by  John  Stafford  Smith  about  the  year  1780." 

Smith's  claim  to  the  tune  of  "Anacreon  in  Heaven  "  must  therefore  be  rejected. 
But  still  the  query  remains.  Who  composed  it?  First,  let  me  note  that  the  words  of 
the  Anacreontic  song,  now  replaced  by  the  words  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner," 
are  of  Irish  origin  and  evidently  emanated  from  Ireland  about  the  year  1765. 
They  were  slightly  altered  in  1770,  and  as  such,  were  printed  in  1778,  while  some 
further  alterations  were  made  in  the  version  published  in  1781.  The  ascription 
of  the  words  of  the  song  to  "Ralph  Tomlinson,  Esq,"  is  based  solely  on  the  fact 
that  it  was  sung  by  that  gentleman  as  president  of  the  Anacreontic  Club  in  Lon- 
don about  the  year  1771.  And  it  will  be  of  interest  to  American  readers  to  learn 
that  the  song  first  appeared  in  an  American  song-book,  The  Vocal  Companion, 
printed  and  published  by  an  Irishman,  Mathew  Carey,  at  Philadelphia,  in  1796. 
To  the  same  tune  was  adapted  "Adams  and  Liberty,"  by  Thomas  Payne,  in 
June,  1798,  and  published  in  the  American  Musical  Miscellany  during  the  same 
year. 

Having  thus  eliminated  the  English  claim  to  the  tune,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
claiming  the  tune  as  of  Irish  origin.  Furthermore,  it  has  all  the  characteristics 
of  a  composition  by  tlie  famous  Turlough  O'Carolan,  as  can  easily  be  tested  by  a 


"The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  17 

comparison  of  "Anacreon"  with  O'Carolan's  "Bumpers,  Squire  Jones."  As 
O'Carolan  died  on  March  25,  1738,  the  tune  may  be  dated  from  about  the  year 
1730,  if  not  earlier.  His  fine  melody  known  as  the  "Arethusa"  was  appropriated  by 
the  English,  and  was  included  for  over  a  century  as  a  "fine  old  English  melody," 
until  I  disproved  the  ascription  and  showed  its  rightful  provenance. 

It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  the  tune  "Yankee  Doodle"  is  also  of  Irish 
origin — a  fact  which  I  first  pointed  out  in  the  Dolphin  in  1905.  I  now  assert  that 
the  tune  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  is  Irish,  and  is  most  probably  the  work 
of  Turlough  O'Carolan. 

I  feel  sure  that  Mr.  Sonneck,  if  a  future  edition  of  his  official  report  is  called  for, 
will  reject  the  English  claim  to  the  tune  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  and  will 
admit  that  of  O'Carolan. 

Whatever  the  merits  of  Mr.  Grattan  Flood's  contentions  may  be, 
no  reader  can  fail  to  notice  how  boldly  and  assertively  his  article  of 
1912  contradicts  his  article  of  1908  (1909)  in  almost  all  essential 
points,  just  as  if  Mr.  Grattan  Flood  in  1912  had  completely  forgotten 
what  he  had  written  in  1908  (1909).  In  1908  (1909),  for  instance, 
Mr.  Grattan  Flood,  after  confidently  stating  that  the  melody  of  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven"  "was  composed  by  John  Stafford  Smith,  a 
pupil  of  Dr.  Boyce,  in  1771,"  did  not  hesitate  to  say: 

•Internal  evidence  clearly  points  to  the  influence  of  Boyce,  under  whom  he  was  then 
studying,  and  eome  of  the  phrases  are  strongly  reminiscent  of  Boyce' s  "Heart  of 
Oak,'' 

but  in  1912  Mr.  Grattan  Flood,  turning  his  back  on  his  article  of  1909 
with  the  asserted  English  characteristics  of  the  tune,  wrote : 

Having  thus  eliminated  the  English  claim  to  the  tune,  /  have  no  hesitation  in 
claiming  the  tune  as  of  Irish  origin.  Furthermore,  it  has  all  the  characteristics  of 
a  composition  by  the  famous  O'Carolan,  as  can  easily  be  tested  by  a  comparison 
of  "Anacreon"  with  O'Carolan's  "Bumpers,  Squire  Jones."  As  O'Carolan  died 
on  March  25,  1738,  the  tune  may  be  dated  from  about  the  year  1730,  if  not  earlier. 
...  I  now  assert  that  the  tune  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  is  Irish  and  is 
most  probably  the  work  of  Turlough  O'Carolan. 

Contradictions  like  these  unfortunately  can  not  but  undermine  the 
layman's  respect  for  expert  opinion  in  matters  of  musical  history! 

The  article  of  1912  was  bound  to  be  subjected,  sooner  or  later,  to 
the  acid  test  of  historical  criticism.  This  ungrateful  task  was  under- 
taken recently  by  Rev.  H.  T.  Henry  in  the  Records  of  the  American 
Catholic  Historical  Society,  December,  1913  (vol.  23,  p.  289-335),  in 
a  brilliant  article  headed  "The  air  of  the  Star-Spangled  Banner." 
With  the  dialectic  technique  of  the  trained  theologian  Father  Henry 
reaches  practically  the  same  historical  conclusions  as  I  had  reached 
simultaneously  with  the  argumentative  technique  of  the  bibliog- 
rapher. Father  Henry,  incorporating  some  of  my  own  arguments 
with  which  he  felt  himself  in  accord,  sums  up  more  or  less  the  whole 
controversy.  For  this  reason,  consideration  of  his  article,  so  far  as 
consideration  will  still  be  necessary,  shall  be  deferred  until  the  previ- 
24115*'— 14 2 


18  "The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

ous  literature  on  the  subject  has  been  reported.  Father  Henry  hoped 
to  show — and  few,  if  any  of  his  readers,  will  deny  his  success — that 
(I  am  quoting  his  words) . 

1.  The  article  in  the  Ave  Maria  is  misleading  both  in  its  assertions  and  in 
its  omissions. 

2.  "Anacreon"  has  hardly  any  characteristic  resemblance  to  "Bumper." 

3.  The  words  were  most  probably  composed  by  Tomlinson;  the  tune  by  Smith. 

4.  Mr.  Sonneck's  singularly  careful  "Report"  to  Congress  is  completely  mis- 
represented in  Dr.  Flood's  article. 

5.  There  is  no  evidence,  or  even  what  purports  to  be  such,  that  the  tune  is 
Irish  in  origin,  or  that  the  words  "emanated  from  Ireland  about  the  year  1765." 
In  brief,  there  is  no  real  basis  for  Dr.  Flood's  claim. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  Father  Henry,  while  tearing  to  shreds  Mr. 
Grattan  Flood's  tissue  of  fact  and  fancy,  did  so  with  a  sense  of 
charitable  humor  and  without  undue  harshness  or  sarcasm. 

In  the  "Report"  of  1909  I  said,  after  enumeration  of  some  sources 
in  which  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  appeared  in  print: 

The  inference  to  be  drawn  from  the  insertion  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  in 
the  quoted  collections,  not  to  mention  many  later  collections,  is  plain.  As  those 
collections  were  among  the  most  important  and  most  popular  of  the  time,  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven  "  must  have  been  familiar  to  all  convivial  souls  in  the  British 
Isles  toward  1800.  Now  it  is  a  fact  that  with  the  possible  exception  of  that  mys- 
terious sheet  song  of  1771,  not  one  of  these  publications  alludes  to  the  composer  of 
the  tune.  It  was  not  the  rule  to  do  so  in  miscellaneous  collections,  yet  it  is  a 
curious  fact  that,  while  contrary  to  custom,  Stewart's  Vocal  Magazine,  1797, 
mentions  in  a  separate  index  the  composers  of  many  of  the  airs,  it  leaves  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven  "  without  a  composer.  Possibly  the  editor  doubted  the  now 
generally  accepted  authorship  of  John  Stafford  Smith,  or  he  was  still  unaware 
of  the  peculiar  form  of  entry  (mentioned  by  Wm.  Chappell  as  early  as  1873!)  of 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  in — 

The  [recte  A  ]  fifth  book  of  canzonets,  catches,  canons  &  glees,  sprightly  and  plaintive  with  a  part 
for  the  piano-forte  subjoined  where  necessary  to  melodize  the  score;  dedicated  by  permission  to 
Viscount  Dudley  and  Ward,  by  John  Stafford  Smith,  Gent,  of  His  Majesty's  Chapels  Royal,  author 
of  the  favorite  glees,  Blest  pair  of  Syrens,  Hark  the  hollow  woods,  etc.  The  anacreontic,  and  other 
popular  songs.    Printed  for  the  author.    .    .    . 

This  collection  was  published  between  1780  and  1790,  the  exact  date  being 

unknown.     "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven  "  appears  on  page  33,  as  reproduced  here  in 

facsimile.     (Appendix,  Plate  I.)    The  words  "harmonized  by  the  author"  may 

of  course  mean  harmonized  by  the  author  of  the  collection  and  do  not  necessarily 

mean  harmonized  by  the  author  of  the  air,  but  these  words,  together  with  the  fact 

that  the  collection  contains  none  but  Smith's  own  glees,  etc.,  and  the  wording  of 

the  title  renders  it  probable  that  Smith  refers  to  himself  as  the  composer  of  the 

music.     But  why  the  words  "harmonized  by  the  autlior?"     If  one  looks  at  the 

song  in  its  garb  as  a  glee,  the  bass  starting  out  full  of  confidence,  and  the  other 

voices  continuing  the  melody  and  juggling  with  it,  one  is  almost  apt  to  see  in  this 

peculiar  cooperation  of  the  high  and  low  male  voices  a  plausible  explanation  of  the 

notoriously  wide  range  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  if  sung  by  one  voice. 

This  explanation  is  possible  only  if  the  form  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  in 

Smith's  Fifth  Book  was  the  original  form.    That  we  do  not  know,  yet  the  word 

' '  harmonized  "  renders  it  improbable.     Furthermore,  if  that  was  the  original  form 

of  the  piece,  then  some  very  radical  melodic  changes  must  have  taken  place  in  the 

melody  shortly  afterwards,  as  a  comparison  of  the  two  facsimiles  will  show. 

Probably  Smitti  composed  it,  if  he  really  did  compose  the  tune,  as  a  song  for  one 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  19 

voice,  and  in  "harmonizing"  it  for  several  and  different  A'oices  he  felt  obliged  to 
wander  away  from  the  original.  Of  course,  if  the  supposed  1771  sheet  song  was 
a  sheet  song  for  one  voice,  and  if  it  contained  Smith's  name  as  composer,  then  all 
doubt  as  to  original  form  and  to  the  composer  vanishes.  We  would  still  have  a 
very  simple  explanation  for  the  extensive  range  of  the  tune.  Such  a  wide  range 
waa  then  (and  still  is,  for  that  matter)  considered  the  sine  qua  non  of  effective 
drinking  songs.  Two  fine  examples,  "Anacreon  a  poet  of  excellent  skill "  and 
"Ye  mortals  whom  trouble  &  sorrow  attend,  "  may  be  found  in  the  "Anacreontic 
Songs"  of  the  very  conductor  of  the  Anacreontic  Society,  namely.  Dr.  Arnold, 
and,  after  all,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  John  Stafford  Smith  could  not  possi- 
bly foresee  that  his  anacreontic  masterpiece  would  some  day  have  to  be  sung  by 
old  and  young  of  an  entire  nation. 

[Foot  note.]  John  Stafford  Smith  was  bom,  1750,  at  Gloucester  [Brown  and  Strat- 
ton  in  British  Musical  Biography,  1897,  say  "born  at  Gloucester  about  March,  1750." 
The  Gloucester  Cathedral  Registers  (searched  for  the  Library  of  Congress,  1913) 
show  that  he  was  baptized  March  30, 1750.  The  day  of  birth  is  still  unknown]  and 
he  died  at  London  September  3, 1836.  His  principal  teacher  was  Dr.  Boyce.  He 
became  an  "able  organist,  an  eflScient  tenor  singer,  an  excellent  composer,  and  an 
accomplished  antiquary."  From  1773  on  he  won  many  prizes  of  the  Catch  Club 
for  catches,  glees,  etc.,  and  his  five  books  of  glees  contain,  in  the  words  of  Grove, 
"compositions  which  place  him  in  the  foremost  rank  of  English  composers."  His 
famous  "Musica  Antiqua"  appeared  in  1812,  containing  a  selection  of  music 
"from  the  12th  to  the  beginning  of  the  18th  century,"  for  which  simple  reason  it 
would  be  futile  to  look  for  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven  "  in  Musica  Antiqua. 

For  certain  reasons,  tlie  title  of  Smith's  Fifth  Book,  has  been 
quoted  above  with  the  same  typographical  error  "Hark  the  hollow 
woods,  etc.  The  Anacreontic"  as  in  the  "Report"  of  1909  instead 
of  "Hark  the  hollow  woods,  etc.  the  Anacreontic."  A  reduced  fac- 
simile of  the  correct  and  complete  title  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix 
as  Plate  H. 

Furthermore,  the  date  of  Smith's  death,  given  as  above  in  the 
"Report"  of  1909,  appears  to  be  incorrect.  Mr.  WilUam  H.  Husk  in 
the  old  edition  of  Grove's  Dictionary,  1883,  had  September  20,  1836, 
but  in  the  new  edition  of  1908  he  has  September  21,  1836,  as  have 
Brown  and  Stratton  in  British  Musical  Biography,  1897.  I  have  been 
informed  that  doubts  have  been  expressed  as  to  the  correctness  of  the 
year  1836.  In  view  of  this  doubt,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  quote 
Mr.  Husk  (Grove,  1883)  to  the  effect  that  Smith's  will  was  dated 
January  21, 1834,  and  that  his  widow,  Gertrude  Stafford  Smith,  proved 
the  will  on  October  20,  1836.  In  addition,  the  following  entertaining 
bit  of  gossip  will  prove  incidentally  the  correctness  of  the  year  1836. 
Says  The  Musical  World,  London,  October  14,  1836  (vol.  3,  No.  31, 
p  78),  after  having  stated  in  No.  30,  October  7,  that  in  their  last  sup- 
plement [John]  Stafford  Smith,  Gentleman  of  His  Majesty's  Chapels 
Royal,  etc.,  had  been  included  "among  the  deceased  musicians," 
whereas  he  "did  not  die  till  the  Wednesday  succeeding:" 

This  gentleman  was  buried  at  Chelsea,  and  (from  a  whim  of  posthumous  vanity) 
in  his  full  court  dress,  of  a  blue  silk  coat,  white  satin  breeches,  waistcoat  to  corre- 
spond, pimips  and  silver  buckles,  rings  on  his  fingers,  with  his  goldheaded  cane  in 
his  hand.  .  .  . 


20  "The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

In  the  number  of  October  28,  1836,  John  Roberts  indignantly  stated 
that  he  saw  the  corpse  of  his  ''late  valued  friend,  Mr. Stafford  Smith, 
put  into  the  coffin,"  and  that  he  vouched  *'for  the  falsehood  (from 
beginning  to  end)  of  the  article  on  October  14"  respecting  the  dress  it 
was  in. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  Mr.  Grattan  Flood  would  never  have  written 
his  article  of  1912  without  the  stimulating  perusal  of  one  of  the  most 
curious  pamphlets  that  ever  came  to  my  notice  during  a  somewhat 
extensive  association  with  books  on  music.  The  complete  pamphlet 
(in  foho)  bears  the  title: 

American  National  Anthem  'Star  Spangled  Banner.'  Made  'Singable'  for  the 
voices  of  the  people.  History  of  the  origin  of  the  words  and  music  written  for  the 
information  and  use  of  the  American  people  with  modern  music  setting  for  all 
voices  and  all  instruments.  Dedicated  to  the  officers  and  men  of  the  American 
Army  and  the  officers  and  men  of  the  American  Na\'y  by  John  Henry  Blake  .  .  . 
Published  by  John  Henry  Blake,  503  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  America,  1912. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  this  is  merely  a  1912  title-page  added  to  a  com- 
posite pamphlet,  the  body  of  which  (pp.  2-6)  consists  of  a  "History  of 
the  origin  of  the  American  National  Anthem,  Brought  up  to  Novem- 
ber, 1910"  and  pubHshed  with  the  claim  of  ''Copyright,  1910,  by 
John  Henry  Blake,"  no  such  claim  appearing  in  the  records  of  the 
United  States  Copyi-ight  Office.  Even  the  body  of  the  pamphlet  is  a 
composite  affair,  inasmuch  as  the  several  sections  of  this  history  were 
written  at  slightly  different  dates.  Mr.  Blake  submits  them  to  his 
readers  in  their  chronological  order  without  having  kneaded  them  into 
a  homogeneous  whole  and  it  is  this  more  or  less  disjointed  method  of 
presentation  which  makes  the  attempt  so  difficult  to  "report"  the 
pamphlet  briefly  or  to  cope  with  the  discoveries,  theories,  idiosyn- 
cracies,  and  contradictions  therein  contained.  However,  and  under 
the  circumstances,  no  escape  is  possible  from  an  attempt  to  do  the 
pamphlet  justice  yro  et  contra,  but  we  need  not  concern  ourselves 
here  with  Mr.  Blake's  effort  to  make  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner" 
more  "singable,"  nor  with  his  conception  of  the  origin  of  "God  save 
the  King,"  nor  with  his  personal  career,  nor  with  any  other  matter 
touched  upon  by  Mr.  Blake,  unless  it  has  an  unquestionable  and  direct 
bearing  on  the  history  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner."  Further- 
more, consideration  of  the  pamphlet  must  be  restricted,  so  far  as 
possible,  to  Mr.  Blake's  own  contributions  to  the  subject.  It  will  be 
seen  that  much  less  space  is  needed  to  analyze,  accept,  or  reject  his 
theories  than  to  "report"  them. 

Mr.  Blake  starts  his  argument  with  the  statement  that  the  date 
1778  of  the  first  edition  of  the 

Vocal  Magazine  is  the  Mason  and  Dixon  dead  line  of  the  whole  controversy, 
as  it  fixes  absolutely  the  exact  date  when  the  song  first  appeared  in  print. 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  21 

Nevertheless,  after  mentionmg  the  reappearance  of  the  song  in  the 
Vocal  Enchantress  of  1783  and  other  songsters,  and  disposmg  of  the 
KoSewig  pubhcation  of  1909,  with  the  date  "Anno  1780,"  etc.,  added 
to  his  version  of  the  Anne  Lee,  Dublin,  sheet-song  edition  of  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven"  as  an  "unintentional  forgery";  and  as  a 
"dangerous  dereUct"  that  "should  be  dynamited,"  he  says  that  this 
Anne  Lee  edition 

ifi  the  oldest  copy  in  the  British  Museum,  its  date  being  between  1776  and  1781, 
and  is  bo  acknowledged  by  such  eminent  authorities  as  W.  H.  Grattan  Flood 
.     .     .     and  Frank  Kidson. 

This  contradiction  is  followed  a  few  lines  later  by  two  paragraphs, 
which  must  be  quoted  verbatim: 

As  the  words  of  the  Song  appeared  in  a  bound  volume  or  book,  The  Vocal  Mag- 
azine, in  1778,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  it  existed  as  sheet  music  at  least 
two  years  before.  This  is  how  Kidson  attaches  his  date  of  1776  to  the  Anne 
Lee,  Dublin  copy.  Naturally  it  may  have  existed  in  manuscript  many  years 
before. 

That  the  words  already  existed  in  1778  is  shown  by  the  paraphrasing  from  the 
standard  words  by  Tomlinson  in  the  Vocal  Magazine,  Leeds  Library,  Song  566. 
The  second  verse,  seventh  Line,  is  altered  to  "a  fig  for  Parnassus  to  Rowley's 
we'll  fly,"  and  in  the  tlaird  verse,  second  Line,  changed  thus,  "To  the  hill  of 
old  Lud  will  Incontinent  flee."  This  wording  changes  the  scene  to  London. 
It  is  such  a  flagrant  piece  of  paraplirasing  that  it  proves  that  the  song  already 
existed.  It  also  casts  a  cloud  on  TomUnson's  claim  to  the  composition  of  the 
original  words.  Kidson  has  recently  got  wise  to  tliis  situation.  However,  we 
have  no  interest  in  the  old  words  except  as  an  aid  to  trace  the  composer  of  the 
Music. 

The  reader  will  not  have  failed  to  notice  that  the  claim  of  "a 
flagrant  piece  of  paraphrasing"  of  the  text  as  it  stands  in  the  Vocal 
Magazine,  1778,"  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  the  date  of  the 
undated  Anne  Lee  edition  is  two  years  earlier,  namely,  1776,  and 
on  the  fact,  which  Mr.  Blake  forgot  to  make  clear,  that  the  text  of 
the  Anne  Lee  edition  differs  from  the  text  in  the  Vocal  Magazine, 
1778,  in  this,  that  it  contains  no  reference  "to  the  hill  of  old  Lud" 
(Ludgate  Hill)  in  London. 

Mr.  Blake's  next  step  is  what  he  terms  the  "explosion  and  com- 
plete annihilation  of  the  theory  that  John  Stafford  Smith     .     .     . 

a  Mr.  Blake  says:  "There  were  tliree  editions  of  it— 1778,  1779,  and  1781.  The 
British  Museum  has  only  the  1781  edition,  but  the  PubKc  Library  at  Leeds  has  the 
edition  of  1778."  So  has  the  Library  of  Congress.  In  liis  letter  of  November  24, 1913, 
Mr.  Frank  Kidson  informs  me:  "I  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  a  1779  edition  of  the 
Vocal  Magazine  except  that  in  Sir  J.  Stainer's  'Catalogue  of  Song  books'  he  mentions 
that  besides  this  1781  edition,  which  he  has,  there  were  ones  for  1778  and  1779." 
It  will  interest  bibliographers  to  learn  that  the  Library  of  Congress  recently  acquired 
a  London,  Harrison  and  Co.,  1754  edition,  contents  identical  with  those  of  the  1778 
ed.,  except  that  it  has  no  preface. 


22  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner'' 

composed  the  music  of  "Anacreon  m  Heaven."  He  takes  this 
step  by  adding  to  a  quotation  from  Chappell's  Notes  and  Queries 
article  (1873)  the  following  "comment:" 

In  October,  1910,  we  diligently  aeaxched  the  record  indexes  of  the  Copyright 
Department  in  Stationer's  Hall,  London,  from  the  year  1746  to  the  year  1799, 
both  inclusive,  and  found  only  the  Copyright  Claim  of  this  "Fifth  Book  of  Can- 
zonets, Catches,  <fec."  which  contains  on  page  33  the  Glee  taken  from  "The  Ana- 
creontic Song,  "Author,  John  Stafford  Smith— entered  May  8,  1799.  See  Official 
Certificate  below  of  Stationer's  Hall  dated  October  20,  1910. 

We  will  gladly  pay  anyone  who  can  find  any  entry  of  copyright  of  the  Song 
"Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  two  pounds  for  an  official  certificate  of  such  entry,  for 
their  time  in  looking  up  the  records.  We  can  find  no  copyright  of  it  anywhere 
in  Stationer's  Hall.     .     .     . 

Mr.  Chappell  might  have  gone  down  to  Stationer's  Hall  himseh',  or  sent  a  boy, 
aa  he  had  a  score  of  employees.  We  are  sorry  to  be  obUged  to  cause  the  Music 
Publishers  so  much  trouble,  but  thirty-seven  years  is  a  long  interval  in  which 
no  one  had  sufficient  enterprise  to  consult  the  copyright  office  at  Stationer's 
HaU.  The  date,  1799,  completely  eliminates  J.  W.  [!]  Smith  as  original  com- 
poser. He  claimed  for  a  copjTight  on  the  "Anacreontic  Song"  arranged  as  a 
Glee  only.  On  page  33  it  is  arranged  aa  a  Glee  for  three  voices.  And  he  takes 
particular  trouble  to  disclaim  original  Authorship,  not  only  in  the  Index,  but 
also  at  top  of  the  Music  on  page  33  by  stating,  "Harmonized  by  the  Author y  The 
music  and  words  of  the  Glee  are  a  "high  old  mix."  The  Music  Dictionary  defini- 
tion of  "Glee"  is  "a  secular  composition  for  three  or  more  unaccompanied  solo 
voices  peculiar  to  England." 

Chappell  being  a  skilled  musician  ought  to  have  said,  "The  Anacreontic  Song" 
arranged  as  a  "Glee" — his  omission  has  made  a  whole  lot  of  trouble.  Smith'a 
compositions  consisted  almost  entirely  of  Glees  [!?].  This  evidence  not  only 
eliminates  J.  W.  [!]  Smith,  but  opens  up  the  composition  to  the  world,  with  a 
probability  of  its  being  Irish  or  French,  or  possibly  American. 

Not  satisfied  with  his  discovery  of  the  date  of  copyright  of  Smith's 
Fifth  Book — a  discovery  for  which  Mr.  Blake  deserves  fullest  credit, 
since  it  involved  a  good  deal  of  patience — Mr.  Blake  procured  a 
certified  copy  of  the  origmal  entry  from  the  Registrar  of  the  Copyright 
Office  at  Stationers'  Hall.  It  appears  that  on  May  8,  1799,  copy- 
right entry  was  made  for — 

A  Fifth  Book  .  .  .  [for  complete  title  compare  Appendix,  Plate  II]  .  .  . 
dedicated  ...  by  John  Stafford  Smith  .  .  .  Author  of  the  favourite 
glees,  Blest  pair  of  SjTens,  Hark  the  Hollow  Woods,  etc..  The  Anacreontic,  and 
other  popular  Songs.    [N.  B.  the  comma  before  The  with  its  capital  T] 

Under  "Property  of"  we  read  ''Author,"  under  "SJutre"  we  read 
"  Whole,"  and  the  "Certificate  [was]  given  May  14th,  1799." 
Mr.  Blake  then  quotes  from  his  "rapid-fixe  correspondence"  with 

Mr.  Eadson,  who,  on  October  23,  1910,  wrote: 

I  don't  see  that  this  entry  in  the  least  alters  the  contention  that  John  Stafford 
Smith  composed  the  air  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  long  before  he  published  hia 
Fifth  Book  of  Conzonets. 

On  the  title  page  of  this  book  he  definitely  states  that  he  is  the  "  author ' '  (mean- 
ing composer)  of  certain  works,  including  "The  Anacreontic,  and  other  popular 


"The   Star   Spangled   Banner"  23 

songs,"  and  on  page  33  he  etatea  that  it  is  "harmonized  by  the  author,"  thus  again 

claiming  the  air  ivhkh  he  noio  alters  into  a  Glee.    All  this  is  quite  probable,  and 

until  you  can  make  him  out  a  deliberate  liar  you  have  to  accept  his  very  reasonable 

statement. 
Again  you  say  that  you  believe  that  Ralph  Tomlinson  did  not  write  the  words, 

but  paraphrased  them.    I  can  not  see  any  grounds  for  this  beUef  in  face  of  the  fact 

that  Tomlinson 's  name  as  author  of  the  words  is  attached  to  dozens  of  contemporary 

copies.  .  . 
From  a  previous  letter  by  Mr.  Kidson  (Oct.  21, 1910)  the  foUowing 
sentence  must  be  quoted  in  justice  to  Mr.  Kidson,  as  it  gives  his  views 
of  the  date  of  the  Anne  Lee  edition  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven:" 

Words  and  Music  on  a  Sheet  Song  by  Anne  Lee,  Dublin,  after  February  1776 

(when  her  husband  died  and  she  took  the  business  and  before  1788  when  she  gave 

up  the  business). 

To  this  sentence  Mr.  Blake  added  in  parenthesis  "  Granted  by  Blake." 

Mr.  Blake's  comment  on  the  Kidson  letter  of  October  23  was: 

The  above  is  a  very  nice  letter,  but  a  copyright  certificate  stating  he  is  the 

Author  (not  composer)  holds  good  in  a  court  of  law,  and  is  a  very  stubborn  fact. 

The  "Glee"  copyright  entry  of  May  8th,  1799,  absolutely  disposes  of  Chappell'a 

claim  for  J.  S.  Smith. 

It  is  here  not  yet  the  place  to  show  that  a  "glee"  copyright  by  no 

means  "annihilates"  the  possibility  that  the  claimant  many  years 

previously  had  been  the  author,  id  est,  composer  of  the  air  (theme)  of 

the  glee  in  form  of  a  song  for  one  voice  and  chorus  refrain,  which 

song  he  or  the  original  publisher  neglected  to  enter  at  Stationers' 

Hall  for  copyright. 

Mr.  Blake  then  uiforms  us  that  he  sent  to  the  United  States  War 
and  Navy  Departments  photographs  of  the  title  page  of  the  Fifth 
Book,  "One  of  the  Glee,  page  33,"  of  the  Fifth  Book,  one  of  the  Anne 
Lee,  Dublin,  edition  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  (reproduced  m 
facsimile  in  Appendix,  Plate  IH,  by  permission  of  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment), and  "One  of  the  Song,  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,  by  E.  Rhames, 
Dublin,  who,  Kidson  says,  published  from  1775  to  1790.  This 
Rhames  copy  was  obtained  through  the  courtesy  of  W.  H.  Grattan 
Flood,  and  may  be  as  early  as  1775."  (Also  reproduced  in  facsimUe 
in  Appendix,  Plate  IV,  by  permission  of  the  Navy  Department.) 

How  utterly  impossible  this  date  "as  early  as  1775"  is,  will  be  seen 
subsequently.     It  will  also  be  seen  how  this  impossibility  elunmates 
all  implied  deductions  from  so  early  a  date  as  to  the  authorship  of  the 
text,  the  "flagrant  paraphrasing"  the  text,  etc. 
Mr.  Blake  continues  by  saying: 

Had  Smith  claimed  composition  for  the  original  music  of  this  Song,  "To  Anac- 
reon in  Heaven,"  he  would  probably  have  invalided  his  Glee  copyright.    We 
iudc^e  Smiti  was  a  good  business  man.    The  words  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven 
appeared  in  the  1778  edition  of  the  Vocal  Magazine,  and  Smith  clauned  for  his 
Glee  in  1799,  or  twenty-one  years  afterwards.    In  the  meantime  scores  [!?]  of 


24  ''The   Star   Spangled   Banner" 

publishers  in  Ireland,  Scotland,  America  and  England  published  perhaps  a 
million  [!??]  copies  of  the  song,  and  gave  the  honor  of  the  composition  to  no  man. 
And  Smith,  although  he  lived  till  1836,  never  claimed  that  honor,  but  on  the 
contrary  he  disclaimed  the  honor  in  order  to  get  copyright  on  hia  "Glee." 

We  repeat  that  there  is  a  probability  of  the  origin  of  the  music  being  Irish  or 
French,  or  possibly  American. 

Francis  Scott  Key  produced  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  in  1814,  and  Smith 
lived  for  twenty- two  years  afterwards  and  never  claimed  the  Music!  Smith  never 
had  the  reputation  of  being  a  philanthropist,  yet  the  royalties  on  the  original  com- 
position would  have  made  him  a  millionaire  [!??]  in  those  days! 

Discounting  Mr.  Blake's  rather  fantastic  estimate  of  eighteenth 
century  royalties,  etc.,  an  attentive  reader  will  immediately  ask: 
"Even  if  John  Stafford  Smith  were  annihilated  as  composer  of  'To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven'  would  that  reaUy  destroy  the  possibility  that 
nevertheless  the  air  was  of  English  origin  ?  Why  would  the  elimina- 
tion of  just  one  English  composer  eliminate  all  other  English  com- 
posers and  argue  eo  ipso  for  the  probability  of  the  music  being  Irish 
or  French  or  possibly  American"  ?  To  these  very  natural  questions 
Mr.  Blake  ventures  no  reply.  Probably  they  never  occurred  to  him 
in  his  strenuous  effort  to  remove  from  the  music  of  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner"  the  (to  his  eyes  offensive)  stain  of  a  "monarch- 
ical" English  origin. 

However,  according  to  Mr.  Blake,  it  is  "aU  a  mistake  ia  punctua- 
tion."    He  says: 

William  Chappell,  Frank  Kidson,  The  Library  of  Congress  (see  page  22,  where 
the  error  is  very  pronounced),  all  fell  into  the  same  punctuation  trap  and  never 
discovered  it.  In  the  Transcription  of  the  Title  Page  of  Smith's  Fifth  Book,  &c., 
they  all  say  when  it  comes  to  the  point  or  "real  target"  "The  Anacreontic  "  com- 
mencing the  word  "the"  before  Anacreontic  with  a  capital  "T,  "  and  putting  a 
period  before  the  word,  and  thus  commencing  an  entirely  new  sentence  and  thus 
throwing  the  Anacreontic  out  of  the  Glees.    (Kidson  admits  it  is  a  " Glee.  ") 

In  the  engraved  title  page  it  is  a  small  "t,  "  and  the  period  belongs  to  the  abbre- 
viated "&c."— continuing  on  the  same  sentence  and  retaining  the  Anacreontic 
among  the  Glees.  Look  at  and  compare  the  Title  page  photograph  sent  herewith. 
It  changes  the  whole  meaning.  We  discovered  this  about  the  first  time  we  looked 
at  the  real  title  page,  but  no  one  would  beHeve  it  unless  backed  up  by  the  testi- 
mony of  the  photograph  of  the  Title  Page,  by  the  photograph  of  the  Glee  on  page 
33,  and  the  certificate  of  Copyright  in  1799,  and  we  had  a  bad  three  weeks  finding 
that  Copyright  record.     Compare  the  photograph. 

Mr.  Blake  correctly  noticed  in  my  "Report"  of  1909  the  typo- 
graphical error  described  above,  but  the  reader  is  warned  not  to 
accept  Mr.  Blake's  grammatical  deductions  therefrom  before  these 
deductions  have  been  scrutinized. 

The  same  warning  applies  to  Mr.  Blake's  half  sarcastic: 

Discovery  that  Smith  wrote  two  "Anacreontic"  glees,  one  in  the  year  1780 
and  the  other  in  the  year  1799,  and  also  the  British  anthem  "God  Save  the 
King." 


"The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  25 

This  hne  of  attack  is  based  on  Mr.  Blake's  acquisition  of  another 
well-known  collection  of  music  by  John  Stafford  Smith.  A  copy 
of  this  is  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  which  possesses  more  "books 
bearing  on  the  American  National  Anthem,  or  relating  and  apper- 
taining thereto"  than  AIi\  Blake  would  have  his  readers  believe  in 
the  face  of  certain  quotations  and  facsimiles  from  such  books  m  my 
"Report"  of  1909  which  was  known  and  used  by  Mr.  Blake.  In  fair- 
ness to  !Mr.  Blake,  but  also  in  fairness  to  John  Stafford  Smith,  ^Ir. 
Blake's  entire  argument,  divested  of  irrelevant  embroidery,  must  here 
be  quoted  at  the  risk  of  swelling  this  chapter  to  inordinate  length.  Mr. 
Blake  writes : 

A  Miscellaneous  Collection  of  New  Songs,  Catches,  and  Glees  for  one,  two,  three, 
four,  and  five  Voices,  particularly  an  Occasional  Ode  Song  after  Dinner  at  the 
Pantheon,  which  gained  the  Premium  tlxia  year,  and  a  Cantata  entitled  "The 
Frantic  Lady.  "  The  whole  composed  by  John  Stafford  Smith,  London,  Printed 
and  Sold  by  James  Blundell,  Music  Seller  to  his  Royal  Highness,  The  Duke  of 
Cumberland,  No.  10,  Hay  Market,  facing  the  Opera  House. 

Size  page  9§  X 13^  oblong  .  51  pages  .  all  complete.  (Please  note  there  is  no 
punctuation  error  here,  and  that  Smith  "claims"  the  whole!) 

INDEX. 

When  to  the  Muses Ode page   2 

Is  it  Summer Glee "     35 

Si  Deus  pro  nobis Canon "     27 

On  page  2.  "  The  Occasional  Ode  for  1780,  which  gained  a  Premium.  "  This 
fixes  absolutely  the  date  of  the  book  and  Ode,  1780.  The  Ode  occupies  eleven 
pages  of  music  and  words,  and  is  remarkably  well  printed. 

Commencing  on  page  35  under  title  Anacreontic  is  a  glee  occupying  seven  pages 
of  words  and  music.  The  words  commence  "Is  it  Summer?"  The  words  and 
music  bear  not  the  slightest  resemblance  to  the  song  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,' ' 
but  Smith  calls  it  ''Anacreontic'^  in  large  type  and  by  that  one  word  only.  It 
does  not  bear  the  slightest  resemblance  to  the  music  of  the  "Star  Spangled 
Banner. " 

This  enables  our  esteemed  opponents,  Chappell,  Kidson,  and  Groves'  Dictionary 
to  retire  in  good  order  on  their  "Claim  "  that  Smith  wrote  an  Anacreontic  in  1780. 
They  all  were  merely  "barking  up  the  wrong  tree.  " 

On  Page  27.    A  Canon  in  Subdiapente,  2  in  (one),  on  a  plain  Song. 

The  peculiarity  of  the  heading  caught  our  eye,  and  we  must  admit  that  the 
phrase  is  entirely  too  technical  for  our  limited  vocabulary.  We  noticed  it  was  a 
Glee  for  tliree  voices.  Then  we  read  the  words  "Si  Deus  pro  nobis,  quis  contra 
nos,  "  repeated  ad  libitum  by  XSiq  first  and  third  voices.  Then  we  were  electrified 
to  find  the  intermediate  second  voice  roaring  gloriously  away  on  our  old  familiar 
friend  in  the  King's  own  English,  "God  Save  Great  George  our  King,  long  live 
our  noble  King,  God  Save  the  King,  God  Save  the  King. "  The  music  is  prac- 
tically that  of  Dr.  John  Bull,  and  quite  the  same  as  the  Music  is  sung  to-day. 
And  tlxis  in  the  year  1780,  of  which  tlie  date  is  absolutely  fixed  by  the  title  page 
and  1780  in  bold  type  on  page  2  and  on  page  34,  ''Round  for  1780,"  which  is 
directly  opposite  the  Anacreontic,  page  35. 

Verily  this  man  Smith  was  a  Wonder — he  was  determined  to  get  on  record 
in  the  National  Anthem  of  America  whichever  of  the  two  is  finally  chosen. 


26  ''The   Star   Spangled   Banner" 

He  composed  a  "Glee"  on  "God  Save  the  King"  175  years  after  the  original 
music  was  written  by  Dr.  John  Bull.  He  composed  a  "Glee"  on  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven"  21  years  after  that  Mystery  appeared  in  print  in  1778.  In  the  year 
1780  he  published  a  book  of  his  compositions,  one  of  which  was  an  ^'Anacreontic,''^ 
yet  all  his  long  life  of  86  years  he  never  claimed  composition  of  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven." 

However,  his  English  friends  save  him  the  trouble,  and  consequently  ''claim  '* 
he  was  the  composer  of  the  original  music  of  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  and 
also  of  "God  Save  the  King."  They  say  read  his  title  pages.  Yes,  read  themll 
"They  are  hoist  with  their  own  petard  !  "  It  is  not  necessary  to  descend  to  vul- 
garity, but  simply  to  say  that  Smith  confined  himself  to  the  deliberate  legal 
truth!!! 

Mr.  Blake  will  not  take  offense,  it  is  hoped,  if  his  "Annual  Supple- 
ment, November,  1911,"  on  page  7  of  his  pamphlet,  is  not  here  re- 
ported, since  it  is  wholly  irrelevant  and  since  it  deals  with  Mr.  Blake's 
personal  affairs  just  as  lively  and  naively  as  with  the  poet  Anacreon. 
This  supplement  is  preceded  by  a  section  headed  "In  conclusion," 
from  which  the  following  is  quoted: 

We  have  now  produced  evidence  that  we  believe  would  prove  to  any  Army  or 
Navy  Board  that  "Music  composed  in  his  Majestie'a  Chapels  Royal  by  John 
Stafford  Smith  "  (see  Library  of  Congress  Report,  page  22)  does  not  belong  on 
"The  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  and  as  an  American  citizen  we  demand  it  be 
taken  off,  and  believe  that  some  Members  of  Congress  will  help  to  take  it  off. 
The  wording  is  too  Monarchical  for  Americans.  What  is  the  use  of  having  the 
Munroe  Doctrine  and  leaving  a  Monarchical  Claim  on  our  National  Anthem. 

Who  composed  the  Music  of  Anacreon  in  Heaven?  We  do  not  know.  No  one 
knows;  it  is  a  Mystery.  No  one  has  dared  to  claim  the  Music,  not  in  one  hundred 
and  forty  years.  .  .  . 

It  may  be  Irish,  for  why  all  these  pre-historic  beautifully  printed  and  com- 
plete standard  copies  from  Dublin.  Of  course  the  Anne  Lee  Copy  in  the  British 
Museum  is  "claimed  "  to  be  the  oldest,  perhaps  because  it  says  "Sung  in  London," 
but  is  it  older  than  the  Lizzie  Rhames  copy,  equally  as  well  printed  (photo- 
graphs of  both  enclosed)  which  says  nothing  about  London,  and  naturally  can- 
not be  found  in  the  British  Museum?  .  .  . 

It  may  be  French,  for  the  Anne  Lee  Copy  is  bound  up  with  a  lot  of  French  Songs, 
and  part  French  and  English  word  songs,  published  by  the  same  Lee  family, 
and  at  about  the  same  date,  and  the  very  first  time  it  appeared  in  America  under 
the  verified  date  of  1797  it  was  set  to  the  words  "The  Genius  of  France  from  his 
Star  begemmed  throne,"  meaning  Napoleon,  and  in  honor  of  the  French  Inde- 
pendence Day,  July  14th.  ..." 

It  may  be  American,  for  did  not  an  American  "claim  "  it  for  us  in  1896?  There 
was  an  Anacreontic  Society  in  New  York  in  1795. 

In  our  humble  opinion  the  Music  has  come  down  through  the  ages,  probably 
through  the  Troubadours,  for  it  has  always  been  a  Song  for  men,  and  no  one  but 
an  opera  singer  of  the  "premier  etoile"  quality  can  negotiate  it.  Even  English 
or  Irish  voices  of  to-day  cannot  do  it  justice. 

It  may  have  been  composed  by  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  who  as  a  Troubadour 
could  compose  and  sing  a  good  song,  and  as  a  Crusader  could  swing  a  mighty 
battle-axe  in  the  Cause  of  Christianity.  Perhaps  it  was  the  very  song  that  led 
to  his  release  when  made  a  captive  by  the  King  of  Germany,  on  his  return  journey 
from  the  Crusades  and  immured  for  a  year  in  a  castle  in  an  obscure  village.  .  .  . 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  27 

It  requires  voices  produced  only  in  that  climate  where  the  sunlit  valleys  of 
Southern  France  and  the  plains  of  Northern  Italy  meet,  to  sing  it  with  justice, 
and  "admiration."  That  climate  which  produces  voices  that  draw  a  salary 
equal  to  a  small  fortune  each  night  they  sing. 

Somewhere  in  some  old  forgotten  manuscript,  in  some  Library,  or  Monastery, 
or  Antiquary  Shop,  the  Original  Music  may  be  revealed;  as  was  "God  Save  the 
King"  after  two  hundred  years;  a  disputation  of  another  hundred  years  more 
will  probably  follow. 
The  discovery  of  an  authentic  origmal  manuscript  of  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven"  with  the  composer's  autograph  signature,  or  even  of  a 
contemporary  pubUcation  of  the  song  with  the  composer's   name, 
would  perhaps  settle  this  whole  controversy  indeed,  and,  to  the  rehef 
of  all  concerned,  would  relegate  the  efforts  of  historians  to  estabUsh 
the  composer  from  circumstantial  evidence  to  the  shelves  of  obUvion. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  musical  history  can  not  be 
written  with  anachronistic  imagination,  such  as  Mr.  Blake  displays. 
If  a  musical  scholar,  fairly  expert  in  "stilkritische"  distinctions  and 
not  famihar  with  the  controversy  here  under  discussion,  were  asked 
to  date  the  anonymous  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  his  answer  per- 
haps would  read: 

The  melody  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  with  its  unusual  de- 
mands of  range  of  voice  is  hardly  that  of  a  folk-song.     Unless 
the  words  were  fitted  to  an  existmg  melody,  the  impression  is 
prompted  that  the  melody  was  composed  for  the  effective  display 
of  a  voice  of  wide  range,  either  of  the  composer  himself  or  in 
anticipation  of  some  other  smger  of  reUable  ability.     The  struc- 
ture of  the  melody  suggests  the  homo  phonic  period.     The  "Ana- 
creontic" text  points  to  the  wave  of  taste  that  was  still  at  its 
height  toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  w^th  countless 
"Anacreontic"  songs  inspired  by  the  philosophy  of  life  of  the 
poet  Anacreon.     Barrmg  conflictmg  evidence,  the  melody,  there- 
fore, may  be  said  to  perhaps  have  had  its  origin  duiing  the  last 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century.     Its  characteristic  quaUty  is  a 
stately,  enthusiastic,  and  youthful  optimism,  well  suited  to  official 
convivial  purposes  of  an  Anacreontic  society.     It  may  be  that 
the  melody  appealed  so  strongly  to  the  traditionally  optimistic 
people  of  the  United  States  exactly  because  of  its  optimistic 
atmosphere. 
Disregarding  minor  matters,  the  main  and  troublesome  question 
appears  to  be:  Did  or  did  not  John  Stafford  Smith  compose  "To 
Anacreon  m  Heaven"?     As  was  stated  above,  his  name  does  not 
seem  to  appear  in  any  of  the  eighteenth  century  pubUcations  of  the 
song  except  in  his  oav^  Fifth  Book.     As  against  Chappell's  plausible 
mterpretation  of  this  fact  in  favor  of  Smith's  authorship,  Mr.  Blake 
argues  an  "annihilation"  of  the  claim  put  up  for  Smith  from  the  very 


28  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

same  Fifth  Book!  Let  us  see  if  perhaps  an  investigation  of  the 
history  of  '"The  Anacreontic  Society"  will  lead  to  a  firm  and  clear 
path  out  of  the  jungle  of  claims  and  counterclaims. 

In  his  Musical  Memoirs  (1830,  Vol.  I,  pp.  80-84)  W.  T.  Parke 
entered  imder  the  year  1786  these  entertaining  lines: 

This  season  I  became  an  honorary  member  of  the  Anacreontic  Society,  and  at 
the  first  meeting  played  a  concerto  on  the  oboe,  as  did  Cramer  on  the  violin.  The 
assemblage  of  subscribers  was  as  usual  very  numerous,  amongst  whom  were  sev- 
eral noblemen  and  gentlemen  of  the  first  distinction.  Sir  Richard  Hankey 
(the  banker)  was  the  chairman.  This  fashionable  society  consisted  of  a  limited 
nvmiber  of  members,  each  of  whom  had  the  pri^dlege  of  introducing  a  friend,  for 
which  he  paid  in  his  subscription  accordingly.  The  meetings  were  held  in  the 
great  ballroom  of  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern  in  the  Strand,  onj:e  a  fortnight 
during  the  season,  and  the  entertainments  of  the  evening  consisted  of  a  grand 
concert,  in  which  all  the  flower  of  the  musical  profession  assisted  as  honorary 
members.  After  the  concert  an  elegant  supper  was  served  up;  and  when  the 
cloth  was  removed,  the  constitutional  song,  beginning,  ' '  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven, ' ' 
was  simg  by  the  chairman  or  his  deputy.  This  was  followed  by  songs  in  all  the 
varied  styles,  by  theatrical  singers  and  the  members,  and  catches  and  glees  were 
given  by  some  of  the  first  vocalists  in  the  kingdom.  The  late  chairman,  Mr. 
Mulso,  possessed  a  good  tenor  voice,  and  sang  the  song  alluded  to  with  great 
effect  .  .  . 

This  society,  to  become  members  of  which  noblemen  and  gentlemen  would 
wait  a  year  for  a  vacancy,  was  by  an  act  of  gallantry  brought  to  a  premature  dis- 
solution. The  Duchess  of  Devonshire,  the  great  leader  of  the  haul  ton,  ha\dng 
heard  the  Anacreontic  highly  extolled,  expressed  a  particular  wish  to  some  of 
its  members  to  be  permitted  to  be  privately  present  to  hear  the  concert,  &c., 
which  being  made  known  to  the  directors,  they  caused  the  elevated  orchestra 
occupied  by  the  musicians  at  balls  to  be  fitted  up,  with  a  lattice  affixed  to  the 
front  of  it,  for  the  accommodation  of  her  grace  and  party,  so  that  they  could  see^ 
without  being  seen;  but  some  of  the  comic  songs,  not  being  exactly  calculated 
for  the  entertainment  of  ladies,  the  singers  were  restrained;  which  displeasing 
many  of  the  members,  they  resigned  one  after  another;  and  a  general  meeting 
being  called,  the  society  was  dissolved. 

Misreading  slightly  !Mr.  Parke's  reminiscences,  C[harles]  M.[acke- 
son]  in  Grove's  Dictionary  claimed  that  Parke  wrote  of  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  club  in  1786,  which  he,  of  course,  did  not  do.  Nor  would 
the  year  1786  be  tenable,  since  Pohl  in  his  scholarly  book  on  ''Mozart 
and  Haydn  in  London,"  1867  (v.  2,  p.  107),  gleaned  from  the  Gazet- 
teer of  January  14,  1791,  that  Haydn  was  the  guest  of  honor  at  the 
society's  concert  on  January  12.  Nor  is  Mr.  Grattan  Flood  correct 
if  he,  in  his  ''Notes  on  the  Origin  of  'To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,'"  sent 
me  in  Jime,  1908,  dates  the  dissolution  of  the  society  1796.  The 
"Musical  Directory  for  the  Year  1794"  in  the  "List  of  various  musical 
societies"  states  distinctly:  "The  Anacreontic  Society  which  met  at 
the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern  in  the  Strand,  the  festivities  of  which 
were  heightened  by  a  very  Select  Band."     Consequently  the  society 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  29 

no  longer  existed  in  1794.'*  This  is  not  at  all  contradicted  by  the 
entry  under  Dr.  Samuel  Ai'nold  ''Conductor  at  Acad[emy  of  Ancient 
Music],  Ana[creontic  Society]/'  because  the  title-page  distinctly  reads 
"musical  societies  of  which  they  [the  professors  of  music]  are  or  have 
leen  members."  (To  avoid  confusion  it  mav  here  be  added  that 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  is  not  contained  in  the  "Anacreontic 
Songs  for  1,  2,  3,  &  4  voices  composed  and  selected  by  Dr.  Arnold  and 
dedicated  hj  permission  to  the  Anacreontic  Society,"  London,  J. 
Bland,  1785.  The  absence  from  this  book  is  a  strong  argument 
against  Arnold's  authorship  of  "  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven.") 

In  the  seventh  edition  of  the  first  part  of  "The  Festival  of  Anacreon. 
Containing  a  collection  of  modern  songs,  written  for  the  Anacreontic 
Society,  the  Beef-Steak,  and  Humbug  Clubs.  By  Captain  Morris, 
Mr.  Brownlow  [etc.],  London,  George  Peacock,  n.  d."  there  appears 
on  pages  80-83  the  text  of  "To  Anacreon,  m  Heaven,"  headed  as 
"Song.  Simg  by  Mr.  Bamiister,  at  the  Anacreontic  Society"  and  on 
pages  6-7  this 

"short  account  of  the  anacreontic  society. 

In  the  infant  state  of  this  admirable  institution,  the  members  met  as  they  no\v 
do,  once  a  fortnight,  during  the  winter  season,  at  the  London  Coffee-house,  on 
Ludgate-hill,  who  were  chiefly  of  the  sprightly  class  of  citizens;  but  the  popu- 
larity of  the  club  soon  increased  the  number  of  its  members,  and  it  w  aa  found  expe- 
dient to  remove  the  meeting  to  a  place  where  the  members  could  be  more  commo- 
diously  accommodated;  the  Crown  and  Anchor  in  the  Strand  was  accordingly 
fixed  on,  where  this  meeting  has  ever  since  been  held. 


oThis  conjecture  is  not  necessarily  contradicted  by  "The  Ugly  Club:  a  dramatic 
caricature  in  one  act.  Performed  on  the  6th  of  June,  1798,  at  the  Theatre  Royal, 
Drury-Lane  ...  By  Edmund  Speneer,  the  younger,"  London,  Printed  and  pub- 
lished for  the  author,  1798.  (40  p.  21J  cm.  Library  of  Congress,  Longe  collection,  vol. 
273. )    This  piece  winds  up  with: 

SONG. 

To  the  lame  old  Gold-smith,  who  was  wiv'd  from  the  sea, 

The  Sons  of  Deformity  sent  a  petition. 
That  he  their  inspirer  and  patron  would  be: — 
Soon  this  answer  arrived  from  rickety  Vulcan, 
'  To  the  call  I  attend. 
Quick  from  heaven  descend, 
Frolic  Pan  with  his  cittern  I'll  bring  in  my  hand. 
Repeated  shouts  of  loud  mirth  the  world  shall  apprise, 
That  men  may  be  happy  without  nose,  feet,  or  eyes.' 
Follow  five  more  stanzas  of  this  obvious  parody  of  '  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven '  and  in 
last  stanza  at  first  line  ' '  Come,  Sons  of  Deformity,  let's  join  hand  in  hand  "  occurs  this 
footnote : 

"The  Club  rise,  as  is  customary  in  the  Anacreontic  Society,  and  join  hands." 
Either,  then,  the  society  still  existed  when  this  play  was  written  (which  might  have 
been  years  before  1798)  or  the  author  did  not  know  of  its  dissolution. 


30  "The   Star   Spangled   Banner'' 

ANACREON,  the  renown'd  convivial  Bard  of  ancient  Greece,  aa  distinguished 
for  the  delicacy  of  his  wit,  as  he  is  for  the  easy,  elegant  and  natural  turn  of  his 
poesy,  is  the  character  from  which  this  society  derives  its  title,  and  who  has  been 
happily  celebrated  in  the  Constitutional  Song,  beginning,  'To  Anacreon,  in 
heaven,'  &c.  universally  acknowledged  to  be  a  verj'  classical,  poetic,  and  well- 
adapted  composition;  and  if  our  information  does  not  mislead  us,  it  was  written 
by  a  gentleman  of  the  Temple,  now  dead,  whose  name  was  Tomlinson,  and  origi- 
nally sung  by  Mr.  Webster,  and  afterwards  by  Charles  Bannister,  whose  secession 
from  the  society,  in  consequence  of  some  frivolous  punctilios,  is  much  to  be 
regretted;  for  to  do  justice  to  the  song,  a  very  animated  execution  is  requisite: 
that  power  of  voice,  happy  discrimination,  and  \ivacity,  which  seems  peculiar 
to  the  well-known  exertions  of  Mr.  Bannister  in  this  composition,  never  fail  of 
producing  him  what  he  justly  merits — unbounded  applause. 

Mr.  Hankey,  the  Banker,  a  gentleman  highly  spoken  of,  as  a  man  of  polished 
maimers  and  most  liberal  sentiments,  now  presides  at  this  meeting,  by  whose 
management,  in  conjunction  with  the  other  directors,  every  thing  is  conducted 
under  the  influence  of  the  strictest  propriety  and  decorum. 

The  Concert,  which  commences  at  eight  o'clock,  and  concludes  at  ten,  is  entirely 
composed  of  professional  men  in  the  first  class  of  genius,  science,  and  execution, 
which  the  present  age  can  boast  of.    After  the  concert  is  over,  the  company 
adjourns  to  a  spacious  adjacent  apartment,  partake  of  a  cold  coUation,  and  then 
return  to  the  concert-room,  where  the  remainder  of  the  evening  is  totally  devoted 
to  wit,  harmony,  and  the  God  of  wine." 
Of  the  exceedmgly  scarce  The  Festival  of  Anacreon,  the  Library  of 
Congress  possesses  also  the  undated  sixth  edition  of  the  second  part. 
The  British  Museum  lists  only  a  copy  of  the  third  part  with  conjec- 
tural date  1810.     The  evasive  first  edition  of  The  Festival  of  Ana- 
creon must  have  appeared  after  1780,  because  July  16,  1780,  is  men- 
tioned on  page  72  of  the  first  part  as  date  of  death  of  Sir  John  Moore, 
the  author  of  "Aylesbury  Races.     A  ballad."     Furthermore,  during 
the  club  season  of  1786-87,  according  to  Parke,  Sir  Richard  Hankey 
was  the  chairman,  evidently  the  gentleman  mentioned  in  The  Festival 
of  Anacreon.     Therefore  we  have  1786-87  as  approximate  date  of 
pubhcation.     Indeed  we  seem  to  have  good  reason  for  dating  the 
first  edition  1788  or  1789,  since  the  two  frontispieces  in  the  Library 
of  Congress  copy  are  dated  November  8  and  October  15,  1788.     In 
that  case.  Sir  Richard  Hankey  would  seem  to  have  succeeded  himself 
in  the  chair  for  several  seasons. ° 

However,  even  before  Sir  Richard's  presidency  The  Anacreontic 
Society  had  aroused  the  interest  of  magazine  writers,  including  for- 
eigners. As  proof  I  submit  in  translation  what  a  London  corre- 
spondent to  Cramer's  Magazin  der  Musik,  Hamburg,  May  9,  1783 
(p.  550-551),  wrote  under  date  of  April,  1783: 

Several  weeks  ago  I  was  in\dted  to  a  concert  ...  It  is  called  the  Ana- 
creontic Society  and  this  institution  is  said  to  be  more  than  three  hundred  years 
old.  There  was  music  from  7.30  to  10  o'clock;  the  invited  virtuosos  play  gratis, 
but  in  turn  hear  vocal  music  for  nothing.  About  ten  o'clock  we  went  to  another 
room  for  supper.     During  supper,  tables  and  benches  were  placed  in  the  concert- 

oAs  against  these  conjectural  dates  Lowndes  Bibliographer's  Manual  (1871)  has 
1783  as  date  for  first  part  and  1789  as  date  of  its  sixth  edition. 


''The   Star   Spangled   Banner"  31 

room  and  the  platform,  where  the  orchestra  had  been  before,  was  now  occupied 
with  vocalists  and  the  tables  were  supplied  with  punch,  "Biechoff  "  and  wine. 
This  was  the  arrangement  found  by  us  after  supper  and  it  was  quite  a  pleasure 
to  hear  good  songs  without  accompaniment  over  a  glass  of  punch.  They  sang 
mostly  canons  and  very  well  indeed.  The  vocalists,  seated  at  their  tables  on 
the  platform  and  mostly  amateurs  "punschten  mit",  and  the  leader  announced 
the  toasts.  On  this  institution  I  hope  to  procure  you  detailed  information,  which 
probably  would  be  welcome  to  you. 

Unfortunately  the  correspondent  did  not  do  so.  At  any  rate, 
Cramer's  Magazine  contains  no  further  reference  to  "The  Anacreontic 
Society. "  Between  the  lines  one  may  read  that  the  London  corre- 
spondent had  his  polite  doubts  about  the  society  being  "more  than 
three  hundred  years  old,"  which  would  carry  us  farther  back  than 
the  discovery  of  America.  Since  others  may  be  more  credulous  than 
our  German  correspondent,  the  following  anonymous  "History  of  the 
Anacreontic  Society"  addressed  to  Mr.  Urban,  the  editor  of  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine,  London,  and  there  published  in  May,  1780, 
pages  224-225,  is  here  added  immediately: 

I  will  not  pay  you  so  ill  a  compliment  to  suppose  you  have  never  heard  of  the 
Anacreontic  Society.  I  therefore  flatter  myself  the  following  account  of  its 
institution  and  progress  will  not  be  unacceptable  to  you  or  your  polite  readers. — 
It  was  begot  and  christened  by  a  Mr.  S— th  (1)  [in  footnote:  Mr.  S— th,  better 
known  amongst  his  acquaintances  by  the  familiar  appellation  of  Jack  S — th,  is  a 
Dog  at  a  Catch,  and  a  corner-stone  of  Society]  about  the  year  1766,  at  a  genteel 
public-house  near  the  Mansion-house,  was  nursed  at  the  Feathers  and  Half-moon 
Taverns  in  Cheapside,  and  received  a  great  part  of  its  establishment  at  the  London 
Coffee-house  (2)  [in  footnote:  Mr.  Bellas,  President]. 

The  society  at  this  house  consisted  of  25  members,  and  each  member  admitted 
his  friend.  Applications  for  admittance  at  this  time  became  so  numerous,  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  remove  the  society  to  a  house  where  the  accommodations 
were  more  spacious.  It  was  therefore  carried  to  the  Crown  and  Anchor  in  the 
Strand  (3)  [in  footnote:  Mr.  Tomlinson,  President],  and  the  number  of  members 
increased  to  40,  with  the  former  indulgence  of  admitting  friends.  The  year  fol- 
lowing, ten  new  members  were  admitted,  and  friends  introduced  the  alternate 
nights  only.  About  two  years  since  (4)  [in  footnote:  Mr.  Mulso,  President]  the 
number  of  members  were  increased  to  fourscore  (5)  [in footnote:  The  present  mem- 
bers consist  of  Peers,  Commoners,  Aldermen,  Gentlemen,  Proctors,  Actors,  and 
Polite  Tradesmen],  and  each  member  admits  a  visitor  as  before.  The  subscrip- 
tion at  present  is  three  guineas,  and  to  a  new  member  three  and  a  half.  The 
expense  to  non-subscribers  is  six  shillings.  The  society  opens  generally  about 
the  middle  of  November,  and  their  entertainments  are  on  every  other  Wednesday 
till  the  twelve  nights  are  accomplished.  The  concert,  which  consi.sta  of  the  best 
performers  (who  are  honorary  members)  in  London,  begins  at  half  past  seven, 
and  ends  at  a  quarter  before  ten.  The  company  then  adjourns  to  another  room, 
where  an  elegant  supper  is  provided ;  in  the  meantime,  the  grand  room  is  prepared 
for  their  return.  The  tables  at  the  upper  end  of  the  room  are  elevated  for  the 
vocal  performers.  Here  conviviality  reigns  in  every  shape,  catches  and  glees  in 
their  proper  stile,  single  songs  from  the  first  performers,  imitations  by  gentlemen, 
muct  beyond  any  stage  exhibition,  salt-box  solos,  and  miniature  puppet-shewe; 
in  short,  every  thing  that  mirth  can  suggest. 

The  following  classical  song,  WTitten  by  poor  Ralph  Tomlinson,  their  late  presi- 
dent, is  chorused  by  the  whole  company,  and  opens  the  mirth  of  the  evening. 
[Follows  the  text  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  headed  "Anacreontic  Song."] 


32  "The   Star   Spangled   Banner" 

These  entertaining  accounts  of  the  aims  and  habits  of  the  "Ana- 
creontic Society"  of  London  «  wUl  have  made  it  clear  that  the  club 
generally  "opened"  about  the  middle  of  November  and  ended  its  sea- 
son about  the  middle  of  May.  Now,  "about  two  years  since"  May, 
1780 — magazines  were  then  generally  pubhshed  at  the  end  not  at  the 
beginning  of  the  month — would  be  about  May,  1778.  "Ten  new 
members"  had  been  admitted  the  year  previous,  which  would  be  the 
year  1777.  This  happened  "the  year  following"  the  removal  of  the 
"Anacreontic  Society"  from  the  "London  Coffee  House"  on  Lud- 
gate  Hill  to  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern  in  the  Strand  during  the 
presidency  of  Ralph  Tomlinson.  In  other  words,  the  year  of  Tom- 
linson's  presidency  and  of  the  club's  removal  from  the  London  Coffee 
House  to  the  Crown  and  Anchor  seems  to  have  been  1776,  either 
during  the  club  season  1775-76  or  1776-77.  The  reader  will  do  well 
to  keep  this  seemingly  insignificant  point  in  mind. 

The  admittedly  earhest  known  appearance  of  the  text  of  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven"  occurs  in  the  first  edition  of  "The  Vocal  Maga- 
zine, or,  British  Songster's  Miscellany,  containing  all  the  English, 
Scotch,  and  Irish  Songs,  Cantatas,  Glees,  Catches,  Airs,  Ballads,  etc., 
deemed  any  way  worthy  of  being  transmitted  to  posterity.  Volume 
the  first.  London,  Printed  by  J.  Harrison  for  J.  Bew,  1778."  The 
"magazine"  is  announced  in  the  preface  to  be  "regularly  published 
every  month."  This  explains  why  the  volume  with  its  1,286  texts 
of  songs  is  divided  into  nine  "Numbers,"  and  why  the  dates  of  the 
two  copperplates  with  portraits  of  vocal  performers  accompanying 
each  number  nm  from  May  1,  1778,  to  January  1,  1779.  (The  vol- 
ume is  entirely  without  music.  The  tunes  are  not  even  indicated 
by  title.)  To  have  compiled  this  treasure  house  of  texts  of  fugitive 
but  once  more  or  less  popular  songs  of  every  description  must  have 
taken  the  editor  years,  which  is  another  point  I  request  the  reader  to 
bear  in  mind. 

In  Number  IV  of  this  Vocal  Magazine,  1778  (compare  Appendix, 
Plate  V),  the  copperplates  being  dated  August  1,  1778,  are  published 
on  pages  147-148  as  Song  566,  the  words  of, 

ANACREONTIC   SOCIETY. 
Written  by  Ralph  Tomlinson,  Esq. 
To  Anacreon,  in  Heav'n,  where  he  sat  in  full  glee, 

A  few  eons  of  harmony  sent  a  petition, 
That  he  their  inspirer  and  patron  would  be; 

"When  this  answer  arriv'd  from  the  jolly  old  Grecian — 
Voice,  fiddle,  and  flute, 
No  longer  be  mute; 
I'll  lend  ye  my  name,  and  inspire  ye  to  boot: 
And,  besides,  I'll  instruct  ye,  like  me,  to  intwine 
The  myrtle  of  Venus  with  Bacchus's  \dne. 

oThe  "Anacreontic  Society"  (1729-1865)  of  Dublin  from  the  brief  allusions  in 
Mr.  Wm.  H.  Grattan  Flood's  History  of  Irish  Music,  Dublin,  1905,  appears  to  have  been 
a  musical  society  of  the  more  customary  tj-pe. 


"The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  33 

The  news  through  Olympus  immediately  flew; 

When  old  Thunder  pretended  to  give  himself  aire— 
If  these  mortals  are  suffer'd  their  scheme  to  pursue, 
The  devil  a  goddess  will  stay  above  stairs. 
Hark!  already  they  cry, 
In  transports  of  joy, 
A  fig  for  Parnassus !  to  Rowley's  we'll  fly; 
Ajid  there,  my  good  fellows,  we'll  learn  to  intwine 
The  myrtle  of  Venus  with  Bacchus's  vine. 

The  yellow-hair'd  god,  and  his  nine  fusty  maids, 
To  the  hill  of  old  Lud  will  incontinent  flee, 
Idalia  will  boast  but  of  tenantless  shades, 

Jmd  the  biforked  hill  a  mere  desert  will  be. 
My  thunder,  no  fear  on't, 
"Will  soon  do  its  errand. 
And,  dam'me  !  I'll  swinge  the  ringleaders,  I  warrant. 
I'll  trim  the  young  dogs,  for  thus  daring  to  twine 
The  myrtle  of  Venus  with  Bacchus's  vine. 

Apollo  rose  up;  and  said,  Pr'ythee  ne'er  quarrel, 

Good  king  of  the  gods,  with  my  vot'ries  below ! 
Your  thunder  is  useless — then,  shewing  his  laurel, 
Cry'd,  Sic  evitabile  fulmen,  you  know ! 
Then  over  each  head 
My  laurels  I'll  spread; 
So  my  sons  from  your  crackers  no  miijchief  shall  dread, 
Whilst  snug  in  their  club-room,  they  jo\-ially  twine 
The  myrtle  of  Venus  with  Bacchus's  vine. 

Next  Momus  got  up,  with  his  risible  phiz. 

And  swore  with  Apollo  he'd  chearfully  join— 
The  full  tide  of  harmony  still  shall  be  his. 

But  the  song,  and  the  catch,  and  the  laugh  shall  be  mine: 
Then,  Jove,  be  not  jealous 
Of  these  honest  fellows. 
Cry'd  Jove,  We  relent,  since  the  truth  you  now  tell  us; 
And  swear,  by  Old  Styx,  that  they  long  sliall  intwine 
The  myrtle  of  Venus  with  Bacchus's  vine. 

Ye  sons  of  Anacreon,  then,  join  hand  in  hand; 
Preserve  unanimity,  friendship,  and  love. 
'Tie  your'a  to  support  what's  so  happily  plan'd; 

You've  the  sanction  of  gods,  and  the  fiat  of  Jove. 
While  thus  we  agree, 
Our  toast  let  it  be. 
May  our  club  flourish  liappy,  united,  and  free  ! 
And  long  may  tlie  sons  of  Anacreon  intwine 
The  myrtle  of  Venus  with  Bacchus's  \'ine. 

These  further  appearances  of  the  text  of  "  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven," 
with  or  without  music,  in  eighteenth  century  magazines  and  songsters 
24115"— 14 3 


34  ''The    Star    Spangled    Banner" 

are  known  to  me.     (Unless  acknowledgment  of  source  is  made,  the 
books  are  understood  to  be  in  the  Librar}^  of  Congress.) 

1780.  March,  in  the  London  Magazine,  p.  134.  Headed  " Anacreontick  Song. 
By  the  late  R.  Tomlinson."     (Text  only.) 

1780.  May,  p.  224-225  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  London.  Headed  '-Ana- 
creontic Song."     (Text  only.) 

1780.  The  Bullfinch,  London,  p.  362,  as  "Song  CCCCLVII.  The  Anacreontick 
Song.  By  Ralph  Tomlinson,  Esq.,  late  President  of  that  Society."  (Text 
only.  Communication  by  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  November  3,  and  November 
24,  1913.) 

[1783]  The  Vocal  Enchantress,  London,  J.  Fielding  (frontispiece  dated  1783), 
p.  336-337.  Headed  simply  "Song  CLX VII."  (Text  and  air.  Compare 
Appendix,  Plate  VI.) 

1785.  The  Humming  Bird  or  A  complete  collection  of  the  most  esteemed  songs 

.  .  .  Third  Edition  .  .  .  Canterbury,  1785,  p.  300.  (Text  only.  No  title 
given  to  any  of  the  songs.  Communication  of  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  November 
29,  1913.) 

1786.  The  Musical  Miscellany,  Perth.  Headed  "Song  XII  To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven."  (Communication  by  Mr.  Grattan  Flood,  December  29,  1909, 
and  Mr.  Kidson,  November  29,  1913.) 

1788.  Calliope;  or  The  Musical  Miscellany,  London,  C.  Elliot  and  T.  Kay,  p.  5-7, 
headed  "Song  IV,  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven."     (Text  and  air.)  « 

[1788]  The  festival  of  Anacreon,  London,  first  part,  seventh  ed.,  p.  80-83.     (1788 

being  the  approximate  date  of  the  first  ed.)     Headed  "Song.     Sung  by  Mr. 

Bannister,  at  the  Anacreontic  Society."     (Text  only.) 
[1788]  The  Royalty  Songster  and  Convivial  Companion  (frontispiece  dated  1788), 

p.  9.     Headed  "Anacreontic  Song,  Sung  by  Mr.  Bannister."     (Text  only. 

Communication  of  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  November  3,  1913.) 

1789.  The  New  Vocal  Enchantress  ...  a  new  edition  for  1788.  On  p.  289  as 
"Song;  sung  by  Mr.  Sedgwick  at  the  Anacreontic  Society."  (Text  only. 
Communication  of  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  November  29,  1913.) 

[1790]  The  Busy  Bee,  vol.  II,  p.  80.  Headed  "LXX.  Sung  by  Mr.  Bannister 
at  the  Anacreontic.  Written  by  Mr.  Thomlinson."  (Text  only.  Com- 
munication by  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  November  3  and  November  24,  1913.) 

1790.  The  Billington  or  Town  and  Country  Songster,  p.  311.  Headed  "Ana- 
creontic Song.  By  Mr.  Bannister."  (Text  only.  Communication  by 
Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  November  3,  1913.)  b 

1790.  The  Banquet  of  Thalia,  pref.  dated  York,  1790.  On  p.  85  as  "Song.  Ana- 
creontic." (Text  only.  Communication  of  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  November 
29,  1913.) 

1791.  September,  in  the  London  Magazine  and  Monthly  Chronology,  Dublin, 
Exshaw.  Headed  "The  Anacreontic  Song.  Sung  by  Mr.  Incledon  with 
universal  applause."  (Text  and  music.  Mr.  W.  J.  Lawrence  in  his 
article  on  "Eighteenth-century  magazine  music,"  Musical  Antiquary, 
October,  1911.  Facsimile,  by  permission  of  the  Royal  Library,  Dublin, 
see  Appendix,  Plate  VII.) 

oOf  this  songster  the  editor  says  in  a  prefatory  note:  "May  properly  be  considered 
as  a  new  edition,  although  under  a  different  title"  of  the  Musical  Miscellany  (a  collec- 
tion published  at  Perth  in  1786.) 

*>  Mr.  Kidson  adds  this  entertaining  bit  of  information  that  on  page  314  of  the  same 
Bongster  appears,  and  in  the  metre  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven  "  of  which  it  obviously 
is  a  parody:  "A  new  Anacreontic  Song.  Sung  by  Mr.  Sedgwick  with  great  applause 
at  the  Royalty  Theatre,"  beginning  "To  banish  life's  troubles  the  Grecian  old  sage." 


''The    Star   Spangled    Banner"  35 

1792.  Edinburgh  Musical  Miscellany,  Vol.  I,  p.  1-4.  Headed  "Song  I.  To  Ana- 
creon  in  Heaven.  Sung  by  Mr.  Bannister  at  the  Anacreontic  Society." 
(Text  and  air.) 

1792.  The  Banquet  of  Thalia,  pref.  dated  York,  1792.  On  p.  85  as  "Song  Ana- 
creontic." (Text  only.  Communication  of  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  November 
29,  1913.) 

179-?  The  Banquet  of  Thalia.  On  p.  78  as  "The  Anacreontic  Song."  (Textonly. 
Communication  of  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  November  29, 1913,  who  says  that  the 
song  is  no  longer  in  the  1812  ed.) 

[1796]  The  Busy  Bee,  Vol.  II.  Headed  "LXX.  Sung  by  Mr.  Bannister  at  the 
Anacreontic.  Written  by  Mr.  Thomlinson."  (Text  only.  Communica- 
tion of  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  November  29,  1913.) 

1797.  Stewart's  Vocal  Magazine,  Edinburgh,  Vol.  I.  Headed  "Song  LXXXVII. 
To  Anacreon  in  Heaven."     (Text  and  air  with  bass.) 

1799.  The  London  Musical  Museum,  Glasgow,  1799.  On  p.  43  as  "The  Sons  of 
Anacreon."  (Text  only.  Communication  of  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  Decem- 
ber 21,  1913.) 

1804.  The  Soul  of  Harmony,  Norwich,  plate  dated  1804.  On  p.  1  of  pt.  II  as 
"The  Anacreontic  Song  by  Ralph  Tomlinson,  esq."  (Text  only.  Com- 
munication of  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  November  29,  1913.) 

Smollet  Holden,  of  Dublin,  made  a  curious  use  of  the  air  by  includ- 
ing a  "Masonic  ode,  song  and  chorus,  written  by  Mr.  Connel,  on  be- 
half of  the  Masonic  Orphan  School,"  to  the  air  of  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven"  in  his  "A  selection  of  Masonic  Songs."  The  collection  is 
undated,  but  according  to  Mr.  Grattan  Flood  (under  date  of  January 
24,  1910),  Holden's  book  contains  a  tune  with  words  "by  the  late 
celebrated  Bro:  Robert  Burns,"  so  that  the  date  of  his  death— July 
27^  179(5_would  approximately  fix  the  date  of  pubUcation  of  the  first 
edition.  A  second  edition  bears  the  imprint  "Dubhn,  A.  L.  5802" 
(A.  D.  1802),  and  Mr.  Elson  inserted  a  photographic  facsimile  of  this 
Masonic  ode,  another  parody  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  (first 
words:  "To  old  Hiram,  in  Heav'n  where  he  sat  in  full  glee")  from  his 
copy  of  the  second  edition  in  his  book  on  the  National  Music  of 
America. 

This  excursion  into  the  history  of  the  Anacreontic  Society  and  mto 
the  bibliographical  history  of  its  constitutional  song  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven"  has  proved  at  least  one  important  fact: 

In  view  of  the  contemporary  evidence  already  accumulated,  Ralph 
Tomlinson's  authorship  of  the  text  of  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven"  is  clear  beyond  reasonable  doubt  and  Mr.  Grattan 
Flood's  statement  in  1912  that  the  words  "are  of  Irish  origin,  and 
evidently  emanated  from  Ireland  about  the  year  1765"  painfully 
betrays  its  nature  of  a  raw  assertion.  Irish  in  origin  the  text  was 
only,  if  Ralph  Tomlinson  wa.s  an  Irishman.  Mr.  Grattan  Flood  was 
prompted  to  his  assertion  by  an  argument  hesitatingly  advanced  by 
Mr.  Blake,  but  before  long  it  will  be  seen  how  the  premise  of  Mr. 
Blake's  argument,  and  therewith  the  argument  itself,  collapses. 


36  "The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

If  it  is  clear  on  the  one  hand  that  Ralph  Tomlmson  indeed  wrote 
''To  Anacreon  in  Heaven/'  it  is  not  clear  just  when  this  poem  was 
written  by  him  whom  the  London  Magazine  in  March,  1780,  called 
the  ''Late  Ralph  Tomlinson,"  thereby  establishing  (compare  also  the 
account  m  the  Gentleman's  Magazine)  his  date  of  death  at  the  latest 
as  early  in  1780.° 

If  Tomlinson  was  a  founder  of  the  Anacreontic  Society  of  London  or 
one  of  its  earliest  members,  then  he  might  have  written  his  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven"  poem  "about  1766,"  or  shortly  after  this 
approximate  date  of  foundation  of  the  society  given  in  the  Gentle- 
man's Magazine.  I  am  inclined  to  doubt  such  an  early  origin  of  the 
poem.  Though  his  poetry  is  not  of  a  high  order,  Tomlinson 
"in twined  the  myrtle  of  Venus  with  Bacchus's  vine"  with  very  much 
more  fetching  inspiration  and  spirit  than  many  other  poets  of  fugitive 
convivial  poems  of  typically  eighteenth  century  Anacreontic  atmos- 
phere which  I  have  read.  For  this  reason  the  poem,  even  though 
perhaps  at  first  jealously  guarded  by  the  Anacreontic  Society  against 
publicity,  could  not  fail  to  gradually  attract  attention,  and  if  written 
"about  1766"  its  first  definitely  known  appearance  in  fashionable 
songsters  of  the  time  at  so  late  a  date  as  1778  would  be  surprising. 
In  fact,  it  is  not  imreasonable  to  surmise  that  either  the  writing  of  the 
poem  led  to  Tomlinson's  election  as  their  president  by  the  enthusi- 
astic "sons  of  harmony,"  or  that  his  election  as  president  inspired 
Tomlinson  to  write  a  club  song  for  the  Anacreontic  Society.  Barring 
indisputable  proof  of  earlier  appearance  in  print,  with  or  without 
music,  this  would  suggest  the  years  between  1770  and  1776,  inclusive 
of  a  wide  safety  margin. 

That  the  text  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  existed  at  the  latest  in 
July,  1778,  is  obvious  from  its  inclusion  in  the  August,  1778,  number 
of  the  Vocal  Magazine.  Mr.  Blake's  logic  that  therefore  "it  is  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  it  existed  as  sheet  music  at  least  two  years  before  " 
I  am  utterly  unable  to  comprehend.  Ordinarily  the  writing  and 
printing  of  a  poem  precede  its  musical  setting  by  a  composer,  unless 
the  poem  is  fitted  to  an  existing  melody.  If  Tomlinson  did  not  utilize 
an  existing  melody,  then  it  would  be  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  text  of  the  poem  existed  at  least  two  years  before  it  existed  as 
sheet  music.     That  the  song — other  considerations  aside — "may  have 

a  The  British  Museum  possesses  under  Ralph  Tomlinson  "A  slang  pastoral;  being  a 
parody  on  a  celebrated  poem  of  Dr.  Byron's  [!].  Written  by  R.  Tomlinson.  London, 
1780." 

I  have  been  vmable  to  find  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  and  several  other  maga- 
zines or  in  works  like  Brydges'  Censura  Literaria,  Nichol'a  Literary  Anecdotes,  etc., 
anything  further  on  the  career  of  Ralph  TomUnson;  I  am  therefore  not  in  a  position  to 
prove  the  obvious  conjecture  that  the  author  of  the  British  Museum  pamphlet  is  iden- 
tical with  the  author  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven." 


'^The    Star    Spangled    Banner"  37 

existed  in  manuscript  many  years"  before  it  appeared  in  print,  with 
or  without  music,  will  not  be  disputed  by  any  author  or  composer 
who  has  had  dealings  with  publishers. 

"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  was  written  by  Ralph  Tomlinson,  and 
was  adopted  as  the  constitutional  song  by  the  Anacreontic  Society, 
founded  "about  1766."  It  could  not  very  well  be  adopted  as  such 
without  appropriate  music.  Hence,  unless  Tomlinson  adapted  his 
poem  to  an  existing  melody,  the  argument  will  hold  good  that  the 
music  was  composed  shortly  after  the  completion  of  the  poem,  and 
presumably  by  a  musician  who  was  a  member  of  the  society.  Both 
poem  and  music,  of  course,  must  have  existed  in  manuscript  before 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  appeared  in  print,  with  or  without  music. 
Whether  or  not  the  Anacreontic  Society  jealously  guarded  its  club 
song  against  publicity — the  best  way  of  accomplishing  this  was  by 
keeping  the  song  unpublished,  but  without  publication  the  song  could 
not  be  copyrighted,  a  dilemma  in  which  other  societies  with  club  songs 
have  found  themselves — we  do  not  know,  but  obviously  the  text  of  the 
song  must  have  been  known  to  the  compiler  of  the  Vocal  Magazine. 
Whatever  attention  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  had  gained  outside 
of  the  Anacreontic  Society,  the  poem  clearly  appealed  to  the  compiler 
sufficiently  for  inclusion  in  the  first  volume  of  his  collection  of — 

The  Vocal  Magazine  .  .  .  containiiig  all  the  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  Songs  .  .  . 
Glees  .  .  .  Ballads,  etc.,  deemed  any  way  worthy  of  being  transmitted  to  posterity. 

Now  this  collection  contains  about  1 ,300  poems  (without  music) .  The 
compilation,  selection,  distribution,  etc.,  alone  of  such  a  vast  number 
of  more  or  less  fugitive  poems  must  have  kept  the  compiler  busy  for 
many  months.  Under  the  circumstances  it  is  just  a  trifle  too  fanciful 
to  accuse  him,  as  did  Mr.  Blake,  of  deliberately  and  flagrantly  having 
paraphrased  the  text  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  in  order  to  change 
the  neutral  locale  of  the  text  to  London.  What  earthly  object  could 
the  compiler  have  had  in  picking  out  exactly  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven  "  for  a  flagrant  piece  of  paraphrasing  ?  A  diabolical.  Machia- 
vellian creature  he  must  have  been  to  include  in  liis  collection  so  many 
Irish  poems  and  yet  to  change  the  pliraseology  of  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven  "so  as  to  fraudulently  create  in  the  minds  of  future  historians, 
bent  on  investigating  the  origin  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  the 
impression  that  this  particular  poem  was  of  English  and  not  of  Irish 
provenience ! 

Is  is  not  much  more  impartial  to  take  it  for  granted  that  the  com- 
piler of  the  Vocal  Magazine  published  the  poem  as  it  actually  read 
when  acquired  by  him  for  incorporation  in  his  songster?  And,  if 
two  different  versions  of  the  text  existed  about  the  time  that  he  was 
preparing  his  accumulation  of  many  hundreds  of  poems  for  publica- 
tion, is  it  not  fair  to  assume  that  he  knew  of  only  one  ?    Furthermore, 


38  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

if  the  difference  in  date  between  these  two  versions  was  but  rela- 
tively slight,  perhaps  a  difference  of  only  one,  two,  or  three  years,  is 
not  the  surmise  reasonable  that  these  textual  differences  were  intro- 
duced after  the  compiler  of  the  Vocal  Magazine  had  acquired  the 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  text  for  his  purposes  and  that  the  changes 
had  not  yet  attracted  his  attention  when  he  published  the  text  in 
August,  1778?  Indeed,  in  case  that  a  plausible  reason  be  adduced 
why  the  Anacreontic  Society  should  have  found  it  necessary  to 
amend  the  text  of  its  constitutional  song  during  those  years,  does  it 
not  stand  to  reason  that  the  compiler  of  the  Vocal  Magazine  had  the 
earlier,  the  original,  text  in  his  possession  for  future  use  and  not  yet 
the  amended  text  ? 

Whether  the  reader  be  willmg  or  not  to  answer  these  questions  in 
the  affirmative,  one  fact  stands  out  like  a  rock:  The  earliest  known 
DATED  appearance  of  the  text  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  is  in 
the  Vocal  Magazine  of  1778.  Until  a  dated  earlier  publication  of 
the  text  (with  or  without  music)  be  found  or  unless  circumstantial 
evidence  absolutely  forces  us  to  date  an  undated  publication  earlier 
than  1778,  the  text  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  as  it  stands  in  the 
Vocal  Magazine,  must  be  considered  for  methodological  reasons  as 
the  earliest  version,  of  the  text  extant! 

We  have  seen  that  the  growth  of  the  Anacreontic  Society  forced  it 
to  change  quarters  repeatedly,  until  it  moved  from  the  London  Coffee 
House  on  Ludgate  Hill  to  the  more  spacious  Crown  and  Anchor 
Tavern  in  the  Strand.  By  deduction  I  have  suggested  1776  as 
the  year  of  this  removal.  Well,  then!  If  the  original  text  of  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven"  contained  any  reference  whatsoever  to  Lud- 
gate HiU,  not  only  can  Tomlinson  not  have  written  his  poem  before 
the  (to  us  unknown)  date  of  the  club's  removal  to  Ludgate  Hill,  but 
an  amendment  of  the  text  became  immediately  necessary  upon  the 
club's  removal  from  Ludgate  Hill  to  the  Crowii  and  Anchor  in  the 
Strand. 

Casual  comparison  of  the  texts  submitted  or  recorded  would  reveal 
no  differences  except  differences  of  interpunctuation,  orthography, 
and  others  here  negligible.  More  careful  comparison  discloses  tex- 
tual differences  that  shed  further  light  on  the  bibliographical  history 
of  the  music  of  the  song,  and  therewith,  as  bibliographical  research 
so  often  does,  help  to  clear  out  the  weeds  that  have  interfered  with 
the  normal  growth  of  our  knowledge  of  the  song's  liistory. 

In  the  second  stanza  of  the  earliest  known  publication  and  version 
of  the  text,  in  the  Vocal  Magazine,  1778,  the  seventh  line  reads: 

A  fig  for  Parnassus:  To  Rowley's  we' II  fly 
and  in  the  third  staixza  the  second  line: 

To  the  hill  of  old  Lud  will  incontinent  flee. 


''The    Star    Spangled    Banner"  39 

"Th(?  hill  of  old  Lud,"  of  course,  means  old  Ludgate  Hill,  and  with 
this  line  we  find  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  London.  "To  Kowley's 
we'll  fly"  can  mean  nothing  from  the  context  of  Tomlinson's  poem 
except  that  "the  yeUow-hair'd  god  and  his  nine  fusty  maids"  will 
fly  "To  Rowley's"  to  the  Anacreontic  Society.  Apparently  we  have 
here  an  allusion  to  an  inn  on  Ludgate  HiU.  "To  Rowley's"  would 
either  mean  in  general  a  "name  .  .  .  known  to  have  been  com- 
mon as  applied  to  taverns,  in  honour  of  the  socaUed  'merry  monarch,' 
Charles  II,"  as  X.  in  the  Musical  Times  article  of  1896  has  it,  or 
Rowley's  was  an  iim  on  Ludgate  Hill  well  known  by  the  name  of  its 
proprietor,  or  an  inn  well  enough  known  by  the  proprietor's  name  to 
have  fitted  into  the  verse  with  less  difficulty  and  more  poetry  than 
the  trade  name  of  the  inn  and  without  obscurity  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader  of  the  poem.  In  other  words,  "To  Rowley's"  suggested  to 
the  members  the  place  at  which  the  Anacreontic  Society  met  at  the 
time  that  the  poem  was  written.  Supposing,  for  instance,  that  one 
Rowley  was  the  proprietor  of  the  London  Coffee  House  on  Ludgate 
HiU,  even  a  very  minor  poet  would  have  had  compunctions  about 
wilting  "To  the  London  Coffee  House  we'll  fly,"  whereas  "To  Row- 
ley's we'll  fly"  was  abundantly  clear  to  the  initiated  and  sounded  less 
prosaic.° 

When  the  Anacreontic  Society,  probably  in  1776,  moved  from  the 
London  Coffee  House  on  Ludgate  Hill  to  the  Crown  and  Anchor  in 
the  Strand,  immediately  the  allusion  to  the  former  locale  of  the 
society  was  out  of  place  and  had  to  be  removed  from  the  t^ext  of 

«  I  have  at  last,  I  think,  been  able  to  definitely  connect  the  name  Rowley  with  the 
London  Coffee  House.  In  the  London  Dirocton'  for  1799,  I  find  "Rowley  and  Leech, 
Wine  Merchants,  24  Ludgate  Hill "'  and  in  John  Timbs'  book  on  Clubs  and  Club  life  in 
London  (London,  1908),  under  "London  Coffee  House":  "At  the  bar  of  the  London 
Coffee  House  was  sold  Rowley's  British  Cephalic  Snuff."  This  last  bit  of  in  formation  is 
also  in  Thornbury's  "Old  and  New  London,"  who  moreover  states  (Vol.  I,  p.  227-228) 
that  the  London  Coffee  House,  24  to  26  Ludgate  Hill,  was  first  opened  in  May,  1731. 
That  WTieatley  in  "  London  Past  and  Present  "  (Vol.  II,  p.  426)  has  the  date  of  open- 
ing as  late  as  January  5,  1771,  does  not  conflict  with  the  main  point,  since  from  a 
rough  sketch  made  for  me  by  Miss  Constance  WHiite  (London)  of  a  portion  of  sheet 
D2  in  R.  Horwood's  "  Plan  of  the  Cities  of  London  and  Westminster,  1799  (at  the 
British  Museum,  also  in  the  Library  of  Congress),  it  appears  that  the  London  Coffee 
House  occupied  the  premises  on  No.  24,  i.  e.,  where  Rowley  and  Leech  held  forth  as 
wine  merchants.  It  is  quite  suggestive,  by  the  way,  that,  as  Miss  Wliite  found  out, 
in  the  London  directories  a  James  Rowley,  Linen  draper,  of  Ludgate  St.  appears  for 
the  first  time  in  1763,  and  that  he  lived  from  1768-73  at  29  Ludgate  St.  Finally,  it 
is  also  suggestive  that  the  London  City  directory  of  1912  shews  at  42  Ludgate  Hill 
"Ye  Old  London  Coffee  House,"  next  door  to  St.  Martin  Ludgate  Church.  There 
it  stood  in  the  eighteenth  century,  too,  but  the  number  was  then  24  not  42.  In  1867 
the  original  house  seems  to  have  been  closed.  According  to  WTieatley,  "The  Lon- 
don Coffee  House  was  at  one  time  a  great  resort  of  Americans."  Stationers'  Hall 
was  just  around  the  corner  of  Rowley's. 


40  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

this  constitutional  song.  What  was  more  natural  or  prudent  in  view 
of  this  experience  than  to  not  only  amend  the  text  but  to  so  amend 
it  that  "To  Rowley's  we'll  fly"  and  "To  the  hill  of  old  Lud"  were 
replaced  by  words  of  absolutely  neutral  character  without  any  per- 
sonal or  topographical  allusions  that  might  be  subject  to  change  at 
any  time  ?  Now,  then,  it  is  a  fact  that  all  texts  submitted  or  recorded 
above  with  the  only  exception  of  the  earliest  one  Tcnown,  that  in  the 
Vocal  Magazine  of  1778,  have  in  the  second  stanza  the  amended  line 

AWAY  TO   THE    SONS   OF  ANACREON   We'lL  FLY 

and  in  the  third  stanza  the  amended  line 

FROM  Helicon's  banks  will  incontinent  flee. 

These  certainly  were  lines  that  could  be  sung  anywhere.*^ 

Allowing  for  the  hypothetical  possibiUty  that  the  society  moved 
from  Rowley's  to  its  new  quarters  about  simultaneously  with  the 
insertion  of  the  original  instead  of  the  amended  text  in  the  Vocal 
Magazine,  or  that  the  editor  was  just  a  Uttle  behind  the  times,  never- 
theless it  follows  with  probability  that  the  amended  text  can  not  be 
dated  much  earHer  than  1776.  Furthermore,  if  any  existing  text 
refers  in  its  title  or  elsewhere  to  the  "late"  Ralph  Tomlinson  then 
that  particular  text  can  not  have  been  published  before  the  death  of 
Ralph  Tomlmson,  who  apparently  died  at  the  latest  early  in  1780  or 
at  the  latest  after  the  printing  of  his  poem  in  the  Vocal  Magazine 
(about  August),  1778,  where  he  is  not  yet  called  the  "late"  Ralph 
Tomlinson.  If,  however,  a  publication  says  "the  late  president," 
then  of  course  these  words  do  not  necessarily  mean  "the  president 
who  lately  died,"  but  may  mean  "lately  president."  In  the  latter 
case  the  date  of  the  publication  would  be  circumscribed  by  the  terms 
of  Ralph  Tomlinson's  presidency.  We  know  from  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine  that  Mr.  Midso  succeeded  Tomlinson  in  the  chair  in  1776 
or  1777,  but  Tomlinson  may  have  been  elected  president  again,  after 
the  expiration  of  Mr.  Mulso's  term.  Finally,  if  any  text  refers  in  its 
title  or  elsewhere  to  the  "Crown  and  Anchor,"  then  it  can  not  have 
been  published  until  after  the  society's  removal  to  this  tavern,  and  it 
follows  with  necessity  that  even  the  earliest  text  with  the  amended 
topographically  neutral  lines  must  be  dated  later  than  the  removal  of  the 
Anacreontic  Society  from  Rowley'' s  on  Ludgate  Hill  to  the  Crown  and 
Anchor  in  the  Strand.  In  other  words,  1776  or  later,  if  1776  was  the 
date  of  the  removal. 

These  are  the  criteria  on  which,  individually  or  jointly  and  together 
with  other  incidental  criteria,  the  chronology  of  undated  pubHcations, 

<*  I  hasten  to  add  that  the  1781  and  1784  editions  of  the  Vocal  Magazine  still  have 
"To  Rowley's  we'll  fly"  and  "To  the  hill  of  old  Lud."  This  is  quite  natural,  since 
they  were  merely  reissues  (without  the  preface)  of  the  1778  edition,  not  revised 
editions. 


"The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  41 

with  or  without  music,  of  "  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven ' '  will  have  to  be 
based.  My  personal  impression  from  all  these  facts,  circumstances, 
clews,  deductions,  etc.,  is  that  very  Ukely  all  undated  publications 
of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  with  the  amended  text  of  the  song 
were  of  later  date  than  1778,  the  date  of  the  Vocal  Magazine.  This 
personal  impression  is  particularly  strong  in  case  of  publishers  whose 
career  as  publishers  lasted  longer  after  1778  than  before. 

It  is  now  time  to  apply  these  and  other  criteria  to  three  editions  of 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  in  sheet-music  form,  which  on  purpose 
have  not  been  drawn  into  the  argument  so  far.     Tlicir  titles  read : 

la.  The  Anacreontic  Song  as  Sung  at  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern  in  the  Strand. 
The  words  by  Ralph  Tomlinson  Esqr.  late  President  of  that  Society.  Price 
6d.  London,  Printed  by  Longman  &  Broderip,  26  Cheapside.  (For  facsimile 
of  copy  in  possession  of  Mr.  Frank  Kidson  see  Appendix,  Plate  VIII.) 

lb.  Same  title  but  with  imprint:  Longman  &  Broderip  No.  26  Cheapside  and  No. 
13,  Hay  Market  (Comp.  facsimile  in  Appendix,  Plate  IX.  By  permission 
of  the  Boston  Public  Library.) 

(la  and  lb  consist  of  a  four  page  folio  music  sheet;  p.  [I]  blank,  on  p.  2  air 
and  bass;  p.  3  four-part  "Chorus"  and  stanzas  2-6  of  text;  p.  4  arrangement 
of  the  air  for  guitar  and  for  German  flute.     Pages  2-3  in  6/4  time.    C  major.) 

2.  The  Anacreontic  Song.     As  Sung  at  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern  in  the 

Strand,  London,  with  General  Admiration,     [lower  margin]    Published  by 
Anne  Lee  in  Dame  Street  (No.  2) 

(Ip.  folio.  6/4  time.  D  major.  Air  and  bass.  Six  stanzas  of  text.  No 
"chorus  "  or  arrangement  for  other  instruments.  Compare  facsimile  in  Ap- 
pendix, Plate  III.) 

3.  The  Anacreontic  Song.     Sung  by  Mr.  Incledon  with  great  Applause.     Dublin. 

Published  by  E.  Rhames,  at  her  Musical  Circulating  Library,  No.  16,  Exchange 
Street. 

(Ip.  folio.  6/4  time.  D  major.  Airand  bass.  Six  stanzasof  text,  followed 
by  F major  arrangement  of  the  air  for  guitar.  No  "chorus."  Compare  fac- 
Bimile  in  Appendix,  Plate  IV.) 

These  editions,  too,  have  the  amended  lines  "Away  to  the  sons  of 
Anacreon  we'U  fly"  and  "From  Helicon's  banks  mil  incontinent 
flee."  Furthermore,  they  are  all  undated.  Hence,  acceptance  of  the 
above  criteria  would  establish  roughly  the  date  of  publication  of  all 
three  editions  as  prohahly  1776  or  later,  if  not  prohahly  1778  or  later. 
This  even  without  the  further  arguments  presented  below. 

One  of  the  most  useful  books  to  music  bibliographers  is  Mr.  Frank 
Kidson's  British  Music  Pubhshers,  London  [1900].  In  this  we  are 
told  that  Benjamin  Rhames  was  succeeded  by  his  widow  Ehzabeth 
at  16  Upper  Blind  Quarry  "before  1775."  Apparently  it  was  this 
remark  which  caused  Mr.  Blake  to  surmise  that  her  edition  of  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven"  may  have  been  published  as  early  as  1775. 
Mr.  Blake  overlooked  the  further  remark  of  Mr.  Kidson's  that  "Gil- 
bert's 'Dublin'  tells  us  .  .  .  that  about  1776  Upper  Blind  Quary,  in 
consequence  of  its  evil  repute,  had  its  name  altered  to  Exchange 
Street."     It  is  this  address  which  appears  on  Elizabeth  Rhames's 


42  "The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

edition  of  the  song  and  "since  she  was  succeeded  by  her  son,  Francis 
Ehames,  probably  near  the  year  1790-5"  we  have  the  rather  wide 
range  of  from  "about  1776"  to  "1790-5"  as  the  possible  date  of 
publication  of  the  Khames  edition.  But  Mr.  Blake  overlooked 
another  important  clew,  or  at  least  he  does  not  seem  to  have  reaUzed 
its  importance.  I  mean  the  reference  Lq  the  title  to  Charles  Benjamin 
Incledon,  the  famous  English  tenor,  who  possessed  a  voice  of  remark- 
ably wide  range.  Incledon  died  in  1826  and  he  was  born  in  1763! 
This  year  of  birth,  of  course,  makes  it  absolutely  impossible  to  date 
the  Ehzabeth  Rhames  edition  anywhere  near  1775.  Indeed,  since 
he  was  in  the  Enghsh  navy  from  1779  to  1783,  since  he  made  his 
fii'st  appearance  as  a  professional  singer  in  1784,  and  since  there 
would  have  been  ver}'  httle  business  sense  in  putting  the  words 
"Sung  by  Mr.  Incledon  with  great  applause"  on  a  sheet  song,  before 
Incledon  had  become  popular  enough  for  his  name  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  music-buying  public,  it  foUows  that  the  Elizabeth 
Rhames  edition  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  probably  did  not  appear 
until  after  1784.  Indeed,  the  fact  that  Incledon's  name  figures  in  a 
similar  manner  on  Exshaw's  pubhcation  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven " 
in  his  London  Magazine,  September,  1791,  would  lead  one  to  suspect 
that  Elizabeth  Ehames  did  not  pubhsh  the  song  untU  about  1791. 
This  impression  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that,  as  Mr.  W.  J.  Law- 
rence informed  me  in  his  letter  of  November  15,  1913,  "Incledon 
made  his  first  appearance  in  Dublin  at  the  Crow  Street  Theatre  on 
June  20,  1791,  remaining  there  tiU  August  1st."  But,  whether  1791 
or  1784  be  the  approximately  earliest  date,  clearly  the  Elizabeth 
Ehames  edition  can  have  absolutely  no  bearing  on  the  early  history  oj 
"  To  ATMiyreon  in  Heaven,'^  and  tentative  deductions  from  this  edi- 
tion as  to  the  Irish  origin  of  the  text  or  its  original  version  collapse 
eo  ipso,  and  pitifully! 

According  to  Mr.  Kidson's  historical  sketch  of  the  important  firm 
of  Longman  &  Co.,  "in  1779  [the  name  of]  Lukey  is  absent  from  the 
firm,  which  now  remains  as  Longman  &  Broderip  and  exists  tiU 
1798  .  .  .  Before  1785  Longman  &  Broderip  had  taken  another 
branch  shop  at  13  Haymarket"  in  addition  to  their  place  of  business 
at  "26  Cheapside."  How  long  before  1785  this  happened  Mr.  Kidson 
does  not  know,  but  in  his  letter  of  November  3,  1913,  he  tells  me 
that  they  "were  not  there  much  before  1783." 

At  any  rate,  Longman  &Broderip's  earlier  issue  of  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven"  without  "13  Haymarket"  in  the  imprint,  was  not  pub- 
Hshed  before  1779  nor  after  the  opening  of  the  Haymarket  branch 
shop.  Incidentally,  therefore,  this  sheet  song  does  not  interfere  with 
the  conjecture  based  on  the  Vocal  Magazine  that  texts  (with  or  with- 


''The    Star    Spangled    Banner"  43 

out  music)  which  have  the  amended  lines,  a  reference  to  the  ''Crown 
and  Anchor"  and  a  reference  to  the  "late  president"  Tomlinson, 
probably  appeared  later  than  the  Vocal  Magazine  of  1778.  On  the 
contrary,  even  the  earliest  Longman  &  Broderip  edition  of  "To  An- 
acreon  in  Heaven"  corroborates  that  conjecture. 

Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  the  possessor  of  two  copies  of  this  exceedingly 
scarce  original  Longman  &  Broderip  issue,  generously  ceded  one  as 
gift  to  the  Library  of  Congress.     If  merely  the  fairly  frequent  issue 
with  the  hnprint  26  Cheapside  and  13  Haymarket  were  extant,  it 
would  not  be  clear  that  this  was  merely  the  reissue  of  the  original 
with  changed  imprint.     Furthermore,  no  entry  of  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven"  will  be  found  in  the  firm's  "Complete  Catalogue"  dated 
1789  (m  the  Library  of  Congress)  nor  in  their  catalogues  of  1781-82, 
1786,  1790,  as  Mr.  Kidson,  who  possesses  these  and  the  one  of  1789, 
informed  me  on  November  24,  1913.     This,  together  with  the  other 
fact  that  they  advertised  "The  Anacreontic  Song"  in  a  catalogue  on 
verso  of  index  to  Warren's  thirtieth  Collection  of  Catches,  containing 
the  prize-medal  catches  of  1791   (in  the  Library  of  Congress)  could 
have  led  to  the  argument  that  Longman  &  Broderip  did  not  publish 
the  song  until  after  1790.     Possibly  the  reissue  actuaUy  did  not 
appear  until  then,  perhaps  because  the  original  edition  had  become 
exhausted,  but  this  much  is  clear  that  it  can  not  very  well  have 
appeared  before  the  firm  opened  its  branch  shop  at  13  Haymarket. 
Consequently,  if  Mr.  W.  Barclay  Squire  m  his  impressive  catalogue 
of  printed  music  in  the  British  Museum  added  to  this  reissue  (pre- 
sumably not  known  to  him  to  be  merely  a  reissue)  the  date  [1780], 
this  date  would  seem  to  be  too  early  by  a  few  years  and  would  seem 
to  apply  more  correctly,  if  at  all,  to  the  origmal  Longman  &  Broderip 
issue  without  13  Havmarket  m  the  imprint.     However,  aside  from 
all  such  bibliographical  considerations,  hardly  any  musician  who  has 
read  the  contemporary  accounts  of  the  Anacreontic  Society  will  deny 
that  Longman  &  Broderip  published  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  m 
the  form  actuaUy  sung  by  the  society,  first  by  an  effective  solo  voice 
of  wide  range,  and  the  refrain  repeated  m  chorus. 

As  to  the  Anne  Lee,  Dublm  edition,  even  Mr.  Blake  granted  that 
its'  date  of  pubhcation  swhigs  leisurely  between  February,  1776, 
when  Anne  Lee  succeeded  her  husband  in  business, ,  and  the  year 
1788,  when  she  was  out  of  busmess.  At  any  rate  Mr.  Kidson  furnishes 
proof  that  she  was  stiU  publishing  under  lier  own  name  in  1781.  In 
her  title  Anne  Lee  says  "As  sung  at  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern 
in  the  Strand,  London,  with  general  admhation."  A  plausible  m- 
ference  would  be  that  at  that  time  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  or  at 
least  the  music,  was  not  yet  well  known  in  DubUn;  otherwise  the 


44  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

reference  to  London  would  have  been  wholly  unnecessary.  Perhaps 
Anne  Lee  imported  a  manuscript  copy  of  words  and  music,  but  is  it 
not  much  more  plausible  that  she  simply  copied  a  printed  London 
edition  of  the  song  ?  In  that  case,  we  immediately  recall  the  original 
Longman  &  Broderip  issue  of  [1780?]  and  begm  to  see  the  reason 
why  the  British  Museum  dated  its  copy  of  Anne  Lee's  edition  also 
as  [1780?]. 

Mr.  Kidson  says  in  his  letter  of  November  3,  1913: 

It  is  without  doubt  a  copy  from  the  Longman  sheet,  the  music  however  being 
transposed  one  note  higher  &  neither  Chorus  or  guitar  &  flute  parts  are  reprinted. 

Comparison  proved  tliat  the  texts  are  absolutely  the  same  except 
that,  for  instance,  in  the  first  stanza  tlie  Longman  edition  has 
"Patron  wou'd  be,"  whereas  Anne  Lee  has  "Patron  would  be." 
As  to  the  music,  comparison  will  show  that  the  Anne  Lee  edition  has 
not  the  trill  in  the  last  bar,  that  the  chorus  refrain  is  indicated  by  a 
dotted  line  and  a  repetition  sign,  that  at  the  word  "fiddle"  Anne 
Lee  retains  the  same  note  as  at  "voice,"  instead  of  as  in  the  Long- 
man edition  taking  tlie  higher  octave,  and  that  at  the  words  "lend 
you  my"  faulty  printing  gives  us  (at  least  in  the  photograph)  three 
natural  Bs,  instead  of  D,  C  sharp,  B  natural. 

Aside  from  these  insignificant  differences,  the  transposed  Anne 
Lee  edition  shows  all  the  peculiarities  in  notation,  phrasing,  harmo- 
nization, rhythm,  etc.,  of  the  Longman  &  Broderip  edition.  The 
probabihty  is  therefore  pronounced  that  she  indeed  used  a  copy  of 
the  Longman cS;  Broderip  for  her  purposes — unless  an  edition  of  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven  "  turns  up  of  unquestionably  earlier  date  than 
the  Longman  &  Broderip  edition  and  with  which  in  appearance 
the  Anne  Lee  edition  is  even  more  closely  related.  Until  then,  the 
Anne  Lee  edition  will  best  be  dated  as  about  1780  or  later. 

A  point  lias  been  reached  to  which  the  last  pages  have  been  lead- 
ing up  gradually  but  systematically. 

Said  Mr.  Grattan  Flood  in  his  "Note"  of  1908  (1909): 

The  words  and  music  of  "To  Anacreon"  were  published  by  Longman  &  Brod- 
erip in  1779-1780,  and  were  reprinted  by  Anne  Lee  of  Dublin  (?  1780)  in  1781. 
Dr.  Cummings  says  that  he  saw  a  copy  printed  by  Henry  Fought— at  least  it  is 
made  up  with  single  sheet  songs  printed  by  Fought — but  this  is  scarcely  likely, 
as  Fought  did  not  print  after  1770,  and  the  Song  and  music  were  not  in  existence 
tiU  1770-71.  .  ." 

Whether  or  not  ^Ir.  Grattan  Flood  was  present  at  Mr.  Cummings's 
Music  Loan  Exliibition  lecture  in  1904  I  do  not  know,  nor  where, 
when,  and  how  he  got  the  above  information  or  impression.  In  his 
lecture — and  it  does  not  detract  in  the  sUghtest  from  my  respect  for 
Mr.  Cummings's  scholarly  attainments  if  I  say  that  his  casual  remarks 


"The    Star    Spangled    Banner"  45 

about  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  are  not  up  to  his  customary  stand- 
ard of  carefuhiess  and  accuracy — Mr.  Cummings  simply  said:  ''I  have 
brought  a  copy  of  the  original  pubhcation  of  the  ode."  Nor  have  I 
seen  elsewhere  any  printed  statement  by  Air.  Cummings  that  "he 
saw  a  copy  printed  by  Fought"  (according  to  Mr.  Kidson,  November 
8,  1913,  the  correct  spelhng  is  Fougt).  In  reply  to  a  pertinent 
inquiry  Mr.  Cummings  sent,  under  date  of  November  7,  1908,  this 
brief  note: 

I  had  a  copy  of  Smith's  "To  Anacreon"  pub.[lished]  in  1771.  I  showed  it  at 
a  public  lecture,  but  cannot  now  find  it.  I  have  two  copies  of  a  little  later  date. 
The  first  named  was  a  single  sheet  song. 

Mr.  Cummmgs  evidently  was  not  willing  to  commit  his  memory 
under  the  circumstances  on  the  point  of  imprint,  nor  does  he  make 
it  clear  whether  or  no  Smith's  name  appeared  on  the  sheet  song  as 
that  of  the  composer.  On  the  other  hand,  his  words  would  lead  us 
to  beheve  that  the  sheet  song  was  actually  "pub.  m  1771,"  though 
Mr.  Cummings  by  no  means  says  that  the  sheet  song  actually  contains 
this  date. 

!Mr.  Cummings  added  to  the  casual  remarks  in  his  lecture  the  air 
of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  and  it  is  suggestive  that  he  gave  the 
air  in  C  major.  Mr.  Cummings  is  not  of  the  kind  to  simpUfy  music 
for  babes  in  the  wood.  I  suspect  that  the  air  actually  occurred  on 
that  mysterious  sheet  in  C  major,  the  same  key  in  wliich  Longman 
&  Broderip  pubhshed  their  edition.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Mr.  Cum- 
mings's  sheet  song  turns  up  again,  so  that  it  may  be  put  under  the 
bibhographical  microscope.  If  then  the  criteria  enumerated  above 
be  apphed,  presumably  all  mystery  will  disappear  and  we  shall  know 
just  how  this  particular  edition  affects  the  history  of  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven."  For  reasons  unkno\\Ti  to  me  I  received  no  reply  to  a 
letter  addressed  by  me  on  the  subject  to  Mr.  Cummings  under  date 
of  October  .30,  1913.  However,  this  much  we  know  from  a  com- 
munication of  Mr.  James  Warrington,  the  hymnologist,  to  Father 
Henry,  that  Mr.  Cummings  sent  him  a  copy  of  the  title  of  this  mys- 
terious sheet  song  some  years  ago  and  that  Ilalj)h  Tomlinson's  name 
appeared  on  it. 

The  ground  has  now  been  prepared  and  cleared  for  consideration 
of  the  main  question:  Who  composed  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  ? 

Mr.  Blake  was  the  first  to  deny  not  merely  the  probability  but  also 
the  possibility  that  John  Stafford  Smith  composed  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven."  Encouraged  by  his  "explosion"  and  "annihilation" 
of  John  Stafford  Smith,  Mr.  Grattan  Flood  in  his  Ave  Maria  article 
of  1912  advanced  the  theory  that  the  melody  is  Irish;  that  it  has  all 
the  characteristics  of  Furlough  O 'Carolan's  "Bumpers,  Squire  Jones," 
and  is  most  probably  his  work. 


46 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner 


In  lieu  of  argument  I  simply  submit  O  'Carolan  's  melody  as  it  stands 
in  Hime's  Favourite  Collection  of  O 'Carolan 's  tunes,  Dublin  [17 — ]: 


Comment,  I  trust,  is  superfluous.  If  this  melody  of  O 'Carolan 's  is 
the  nearest  that  Mr.  Grattan  ^Flood  with  his  very  extensive  knowl- 
edge of  Irish  music  of  every  description  could  come  to  "The  Star 
Spangled  Banner,"  scil.  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  after  all  these 
years  of  enthusiastic  research  in  behalf  of  Irish  music,  we  may  rest 
assured,  that  the  air  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  will  not  be  found 
in  any  Irish  music  publication  or  manuscript  of  an  authentic  and 
genuine  date  prior  to  the  time  when  Ralph  Tomlinson  wTote  the 
text.  Nor  has  Mr.  Frank  Kidson,  so  he  informs  me,  under  date  of 
November  3,  1918,  run  across  any  melody  in  British  collections, 
printed  or  manuscript,  that  could  by  any  stretch  of  imagination  be 
identified  with  the  air  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven."  The  word  of 
such  an  authoritative  and  industrious  collector  of  British  folk  and 
popular  airs  carries  tenfold  more  weight  than  the  statement  that 
I,  too,  have  failed  to  find  any  such  air  in  the  fairly  numerous  eight- 
eenth century  British  song  publications  in  the  Library  of  Congress. 
On  the  other  hand,  some  weight  may  attach  to  my  statement  that 
I  have  not  found  the  air  mentioned  in  American  publications  or 
manuscripts  prior  to  the  latter  part  of  the  last  decade  of  the  eight- 
eenth century. 

That  single  melodic  snatches,  phrases,  motives,  or  half  motives 
of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  are  common  enough  in  musical  litera- 
ture, nobody  will  deny,  just  as  otherwise  totally  different  poems 
may  have  words  in  common,  but  in  its  entirety  as  melody  "To  Ana- 


"The   Star    Spangled    Banner"  47 

creon  in  Heaven"  appears  to  have  had  no  prototype.'*  Everything, 
indeed,  tends  to  imply  that  Ralph  Tomlinson  did  not  use  an  already 
existing  melody  but  that  the  melody  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven" 
was  composed  after  and  not  before  he  wrote  his  poem. 

The  reader  may  ask :  Did,  perhaps,  the  founder  of  the  Anacreontic 
Society,  Jack  Smith,  "a  sly  dog  at  a  catch"  try  his  hand  at  Tomlin- 
son 's  poem  ?  The  reader  may  even  suspect  some  connection  between 
this  Jack  Smith  and  John  Stafford  Smith,  so  sly  a  dog  at  a  catch 
that  he  repeatedly  was  given  prize  medals  of  the  Catch  Gub,  but 
with  such  suggestive  speculations  I  shall  not  concern  myself  here. 
Impossible  the  identity  of  the  two  Smiths  would  not  be,  though  John 
Stafford  Smith  was  but  a  youngster  "about  1766"  when  the  Anac- 
reontic Society  was  founded.  However,  Smith  would  not  have  been 
the  first  nor  the  last  youngster,  as  I  can  testify  from  personal  experi- 
ence, to  have  founded  a  club  at  so  early  an  age.  If  Mr.  Grattan 
Flood  maintains  that  John  Stafford  Smith  could  not,  in  1771,  have 
composed  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  because  Smith's  earliest  known 
composition  dates  from  1773,  I  fear  that  his  argument  will  lead  us 
nowhere.  Not  only  is  there  absolutely  no  reason  why  a  trained 
musician  of  about  21  years  should  have  been  too  young  to  compose 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven" — think  of  the  precocity  of  innumerable 
composers,  great  and  not  great — but  Mr.  Grattan  Flood  will  find  in 
Thomas  Warren's  eleventh  Collection  of  Catches,  Canons,  and  Glees 
[17721  with  the  prize-medal  pieces  of  1772  on  pages  10-16,  the  four- 
part  canzonet  "Stay,  Shepherd,  Stay,"  and  on  pages  32-37  the  glee 
"Sleep,  Poor  Youth,"  both  printed  as  by  John  Stafford  Smith. 

If  Smith  was  a  printed  composer  in  1772,  it  stands  to  reason  that  he 
was  not  quite  a  novice  in  setting  music  to  texts  that  struck  his  fancy. 
But,  as  I  have  said,  such  speculation  leads  us  nowhere,  except  to 
demonstrate  that  John  Stafford  Smith,  if  called  upon  at  that  time, 
could  have  composed  Tomlinson 's  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  about 
1771.     And,  if  the  poem  was  not  written  until  about  1775,  then,  of 

«»  As  a  pleasant  pastime  I  suggest  to  the  reader  to  slightly  shift  the  rhythm  of  the 
following  melody  and  he  will  have  the  beginning  of  our  "Star  Spangled  Banner." 


Bush  of  Boon 


For  the  benefit  of  those  who  might  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting  that  the  tune  of 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  shows  all  the  characteristics  of  "Bush  of  Boon,"  and  most 
probably  is  the  same,  my  source  may  here  bo  mentioned:  Fielding's  ballad  farce 
"An  Old  Man  Taught  Wisdom, "  London,  J.  Watts,  1735,  where  the  tune  is  sung  to  the 
words  "Oh,  dear  papa!  don't  look  so  grum." 


48  ''The    Star   Spangled    Banner" 

course,  all  chronological  scruples  vanish  absolutely,  because  by  that 
time  John  Stafford  Smith  had  gained  distinction  as  a  composer. 

Since  the  rumor  that  Dr.  Samuel  Arnold  composed  ''To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven"  has  been  sUenced  by  unanimous  consent,  and  since 
John  Stafford  Smith  is  the  only  other  British  composer  to  whom  that 
honor  has  been  credited  with  sound  argurnent,  I  here  restrict  myself 
absolutely  to  the  arguments  for  and  against  his  authorship.  It 
so  happened  that  Kev.  H.  T.  Henry,  of  Philadelphia,  took  up  the 
cudgels  for  John  Stafford  Smith  against  Mr.  Blake  and  IVIr.  Grattan 
Flood  exactly  at  the  time  that  I  was  preparing  a  revised  edition 
of  my  "Star-Spangled  Banner"  chapter.  In  order  to  preserve  as 
much  as  possible  its  nature  of  a  ''Report,"  in  order  to  give  Father 
Henry  all  credit  due  him,  and  because  we  found  ourselves  in  accord 
on  such  vital  arguments  as  are  now  ripe  for  presentation,  Father 
Henry's  essay  in  the  Records  of  the  American  Catholic  Historical 
Society  (Dec,  1913)  will  now  be  drawn  upon  to  estabHsh,  if  possible, 
the  composer  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven." 

First  of  all,  it  is  but  fair  to  look  into  Mr.  Blake's  and  IVIr.  Grattan 
Flood's  attacks  on  John  Stafford  Smith's  veracity  and  character  as  a 
gentleman.     Says  Father  Henry  in  tliis  connection,  on  pages  329-333 : 

I  do  not  know  with  what  intent  Dr.  Flood  introduces  hig  remark  concerning 
the  "audacity"  of  Smith,  in  the  following  paragraph;  but  I  may  fairly  con- 
jecture that  the  purpose  was  to  impugn  Smith's  trustworthiness  when,  in  1799, 
he  claimed  that  the  air  of  "Anacreon"  was  "harmonized  by  the  author."  This 
conjecture  is  not,  indeed,  very  logical,  becauoe  Mr.  Blake  and,  following  him, 
Dr.  Flood,  contend  that  by  "author"  Smith  did  not  mean  "composer."  The 
major  part  of  Mr.  Blake's  and  Dr.  Flood's  argument  turns  on  this  (to  their  minds 
obvious)  interpretation  of  "author;"  and  accordingly  both  should  most  earnestly 
affirm  the  absolute  trustworthiness  of  Smith.  That  Smith's  veracity  should  be 
impeached  (and,  of  all  men,  by  the  two  consentient  interpreters  of  Smith's 
own  words)  is  not,  of  course,  a  logical  thing;  but  I  am  at  a  loss  how  else  to  interpret 
Dr.  Flood's  indignation  at  Smith's  "audacity."  But  now  to  his  impeachment 
of  Smith: 

An  examination  of  Smith's  Fifth  Book  of  Cazonets  reveals  not  only  the  interesting  fact  that  this 
foiuth-rate  musician  merely  arranged  the  long-existing  melody  of  "Anacreon,"  but  he  also  arranged 
in  a  diflerent  volume  another  Anacreontic  song  and  likewise  "  God  Save  the  King! "  and  had  the 
audacity  to  assert  that  "the  whole  was  composed  by  John  StaSord  Smith  about  the  year  1780."  (The 
italics  are  Dr.  Flood's.) 

The  hastily-written  English  of  this  paragraph  might  easily  mislead  the  reader. 
It  is  not  an  examination  of  Smith's  Fifth  Book  which  will  reveal  to  us  his  com- 
position of  "another  Anacreontic  song,  and  likewise  'Grod  Save  the  King!' 
.  .  ,'.'  etc.  These  things  were  revealed  to  Mr.  Blake  when  he  came  across 
the  1780  volume  of  Smith's  in  an  old  bookshop  in  London. 

But  once  more  to  our  sheep.  Dr.  Flood  marvels  at  the  audacity  of  Smiuh 
in  declaring  that  he  had  composed  the  whole  of  a  volvime  containing  "God  Save 
the  King!"  Readers  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  long  controversies  waged 
about  the  text  and  tune  of  the  British  national  anthem  will  fail  to  realize  fully 
the  enormous  audacity  of  Smith  in  claiming  that  air  as  his  own  composition  .  .  . 


''The    Star   Spangled    Banner''  49 

Had  Smith  .  .  .  declared  that  he  was  the  composer  of  an  air  which  so  many 
people  could  testify  that  they  had  heard  sung  or  had  seen  in  print  before  he  was 
born,  his  act  would  not  have  been  one  of  ''audacity,''  but  rather  one  of  the 
greatest  foolhardiness  possible  to  mortal  man.  With  about  equal  foolishnesa 
might  the  present  writer  claim  to  have  composed  the  "Star-Spangled  Banner." 

Dr.  Flood  could  not  but  know  that  the  anthem  was  popular  before  Smith  was 
born;  and  it  is  indeed  because  of  this  knowledge  that  he  charges  Smith  with 
"audacity."  I  am  not  enough  of  a  psychologist  to  explain  how,  under  these 
circumstances,  Dr.  Flood  could  have  considered  Smith's  act  "audacious"  rather 
than  idiotic.  He  must  (I  presume)  have  "complacently  followed"  Mr.  Blake 
down  the  rushing  tide  of  the  latter's  mistaken  enthusiasm.  For  Mr.  Blake 
had  discovered  Smith's  volume  published  in  1780,  in  an  old  bookshop  in  Lon- 
don; had  purchased  it  for  80  cents  (although,  as  he  remarks,  he  would  gladly 
have  given  |8,  and  adds — ^jocularly,  I  suppose — that  he  would  sell  it  to  Congress 
for  $800);  had  found  "God  Save  the  King"  in  it;  had  read  on  the  title  page  that 
Smith  composed  the  "whole"  of  the  volume  and  had  been  properly  scandalized 
at  such  incomprehensible  audacity.  But  Mr.  Blake  was  not  a  musician;  he  was 
an  inventor  of  a  device  for  rifles,  and  his  invention  was  adopted  (so  the  biograph- 
ical note  affixed  to  the  binding  of  his  pamphlet  tells  us)  by  the  United  States 
in  the  Spanish- American  War.  That  Dr.  Flood  should  have  "complacently 
followed"  Mr.  Blake  is  the  truly  wonderful  thing;  for  Dr.  Flood  is  a  musician,  as 
well  as  a  historian  of  music,  and  should  immediately  have  suspected  that  some- 
thing was  "out  of  gear"  in  Mr.  Blake's  views  concerning  Smith's  claim  to  the 
authorship  of  the  British  national  anthem.  A  few  moment's  inspection  of  the 
volume  itself  would  have  enlightened  him  as  to  the  exact  claim  of  Smith,  but 
he  followed  Mr.  Blake,  whose  offer  to  sell  the  book  to  Congress  was  quite  super- 
fluous, for  Congress  possesses  both  the  1780  voiume  and  that  of  1799. 

WTiat,  then,  is  the  explanation  of  the  mystery  of  Smith's  audacity?  In  his 
letters  to  me  of  18  and  27  October,  Mr.  Sonneck  tells  simply  and  clearly  what  it 
really  was  that  Smith  laid  claim  to  as  composer: 

"Blake  refers  to  the  words,  'the  whole  compos'd  by  John  Stafford  Smith,'  on 
"the  title-page  of  his  A  Miscellaneous  Collection  of  New  Songs,  Catches,  and 
"Glees,  London,  James  Blundell  (published,  as  the  contents  prove,  in  the  year 
"1780),  and  deduces  his  imputation  that  Smith  fraudulently  claimed  with  the 
"above  words  to  have  been  the  composer  of  'God  Save  the  Eling'  from  the 
"fact  that  on  p.  27  'God  Save  the  King'  appears  in  'A  Canon  in  Subdiapente; 
"2  in  1  on  a  plain  Song.'  Mr.  Blake,  who  is  not  by  profession  a  musician  or 
"historian,  breaks  down  under  his  own  argument  by  quoting  Smith's  Index, in 
"  which  this  particular  piece  appears  as  'Si  Deus  pro  nobis  .  .  .  Canon  .  .  .  27.' 
*'The  puzzle  is  simple  enough  for  a  musician:  'Si  Deus  pro  nobis'  are  the 
"words  put  to  the  'Canon  in  Subdiapente;  2  in  1,'  and  the  'plain  song,'  or 
"  'cantus  firmus,'  as  we  would  say  nowadays,  on  which  Smith  composed  his 
"canon  was  the  melody  of  'God  Save  Great  George  our  King,'  duly  printed 
"  with  these  words.  .  .  .  Dear  old  Smith's  Index  shows  to  what  he  laid  claims 
"as  'composer'  of  'the  whole':  the  canon  (as  was  correct)  and  nothing 
"more."« 

a  On  p.  32  of  the  same  collection  Smith  haa  "A  Canon  on  aground  baas;  real  London 
Cries."  According  to  the  logic  of  Mr.  Blake  and  Mr.  Grattan  Flood  this  would  mean 
that  Smith,  claiming  to  be  the  composer  of  "The  wliole"'  collection,  had  the  audacity 
to  pose  as  the  composer  of  these  "real  London  Cries.  "  I  can  not  make  myself  believe 
that  John  Stafford  Smith  was  quite  such  an  audacious  idiot  as  all  that. 

24115°— 14 4 


60  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

Though  my  quotation  of  O'Carolan's  sprightly  air  of  "Bumper, 
Squire  Jones"  makes  further  comparison  of  it  with  ''To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven"  unnecessary,  I  can  not  abstain  from  treatmg  the  reader  to 
at  least  part  of  Rev,  Henry's  deliciously  humorous  and  for  Mr.  Flood 
really  disastrous 

COMPARISON    OF    "bUMPER"    WITH    "aNACREOX." 

As  already  stated,  the  only  argument  of  apparent  value  advanced  by  Dr.  Flood 
for  the  Irish  origin  of  the  air  of  our  national  anthem  is  the  one  he  bases  on  musical 
"characteristics,"  for  the  melody  of  "Anacreon"  has,  he  declares,  "all  the  char- 
acteristics" of  O'Carolan's  "Bumper,  Squire  Jones."  JSe  invites  his  readers  to 
make  the  comparison,  assuring  them  that  the  truth  of  his  assertion  "can  easily 
be  tested"  in  this  way.  The  test  is  not,  however,  quite  so  easily  made,  for  the 
readers  must  catch  their  hare  first — must  first  of  all  find  O'Carolan's  air — and  then 
must  proceed  to  cook  it,  as  it  were,  in  the  same  pot  with  "Anacreon." 

To  facilitate  for  them  the  process  of  comparison,  I  have  transposed  "Anacreon  " 
from  the  key  of  C  into  the  "Bumper"  [condensation  used  by  Rev.  Henry  merely 
in  the  interest  of  brevity]  key  of  B-flat,  and  have  turned  its  6-4  time  into  the  6-8 
time  of  "Bumper."  Something  is  lost  to  my  demonstration  of  the  dissimilarity 
between  the  two  airs  by  this  change  in  the  apparent  rhythm  of  "Anacreon" — 
this  change  of  quarter  notes  into  eighth  notes;  for  the  tendency  is  a  natural 
(although  not,  it  is  true,  a  necessary)  one,  to  sing  6-8  faster  than  6-4  time,  and  to 
give  "Anacreon"  something  of  the  rollicking  gait  of  "Bumper."  We  are  thus 
tempted  to  turn  what  may  have  been  a  fairly  slow  or  at  least  a  fairly  moderate 
tempo  of  "Anacreon"  into  what  was  most  probably  a  fairly  fast  tempo  of  "Bump- 
er." But  if  the  comparison  is  to  be  made  with  ease  and  some  approximation  to 
accuracy,  the  change  of  "Anacreon"  to  the  same  key  and  the  same  apparent 
rhythm  as  those  of  "Bumper"  is  almost  a  necessity.     .  .  . 

.  .  .  The  only  characteristic  in  which  "Bumper"  and  "Anacreon"  agree  is 
the  apparently  perfect  agreement  to  disagree  perfectly;  for  where  one  melody 
ascends  the  other  descends,  and  vice  versa.  This  agreement  to  disagree  begins  with 
the  very  first  notes  and  continues  throughout  to  the  end,  except  in  the  first  half  of 
the  eleventh  bar.  So  true  is  this  that  if  the  reader  looks  at  any  two  connected 
staves,  he  will  fancy  that  he  is  gazing  at  an  illustration  of  scholastic  counterpoint 
in  contrary  motion.  If  he  should  have  a  very  literal  mind,  he  will  gravely  count 
the  notes  on  which  the  two  melodies  agree  as  they  pass  each  other,  and  will  not 
be  surprised  that  they  are  so  very  few  in  number.  The  "Anacreon  "  air  has  100 
notes,  and  only  7  of  these  coincide  with  notes  in  O'Carolan's  air.  Seven  per  cent 
is  not  a  notable  agreement. 

.  .  .  The  comparison  of  the  tunes  of  "Bumper"  and  "Anacreon"  makes  the 
contention  of  Dr.  Flood  unacceptable  to  us.  If  "Bumper"  is  characteristically 
Irish,  then  its  antithesis,  "Anacreon,"  must  be  characteristically  non-Irish.  But 
the  matter  is  even  more  curious  than  this.  After  I  had  transcribed  the  ' '  Bumper  " 
song  from  an  antique  volume  of  music;  I  chanced  to  look  over  the  chapter  on 
disputed  ascriptions  in  O'Neill's  Irish  Folk  Music,  and  there  learned  that — 
mirabile  dictu— the  tune  of  "Bumper"  had  been  adjudged  English  by  Burk 
Thumoth  (who  in  1720  published  the  first  collections  of  Irish  airs),  who  placed  it 
among  the  "Twelve  English  Airs"  in  his  second  volume.  Hereupon  O'Neill 
remarks  that  the  air  is  duly  accredited  to  O'Carolan  in  The  Hibernian  Muse,  "the 
editor  of  which  in  this  instance  ventured  to  doubt  Thumoth's  infallibility. ' '  Can 
humor  further  go? 


The   Star   Spangled   Banner" 


51 


COMPARISON    OF    CHARACTERISTICS 

II.   "Anacreon,"  etc. 

I 


52  ''The    Star   Spangled    Banner" 

On  pages  312-323  Eev.  Henry  deals  with  "  the  negative  argument" 
as  foUows: 

I  think  the  question  of  the  authorship  of  the  tune  has  been  simplified  by  elim- 
ination of  the  Irish  claim  (so  far,  of  course,  as  that  claim  rests  on  the  bases  furnished 
by  Dr.  Flood's  article).  We  are  now  able  to  consider  the  effect  of  Mr.  Blake's 
discovery  on  the  commonly  accepted  view  that  Smith  is  the  author.  In  rejecting 
this  view  (which  had  in  1909  been  held  by  him)  Dr.  Flood  writes: 

In  order  to  bolster  up  Stafford  Smith's  claim  as  a  composer  of  the  tune,  Chappell  and  his  copyists 
give  the  date  of  his  Fifth  Book  of  Canzonets  as  "  1780  or  1785."  Fortunately  for  historical  accuracy,  a 
wealthy  Irish-American,  Mr.  John  Henry  Blake,  went  to  the  copyright  office.  Stationers'  Hall,  Lon- 
don, and  searched  the  record  indexes  of  the  copyright  department  from  1746  to  1799,  inclusively, 
with  the  result  that  he  discovered  the  actual  date  on  which  Smith  entered  the  copyright,  namely. 
May  14, 1799.    [recte  May  8.    Sonneck.] 

Dr.  Flood  is  very  severe  on  "Chappell  and  his  copyists,"  who  attempted  to 
"bolster  up"  Smith's  claim  by  assigning  too  early  a  date  for  his  volume.  But 
as  late  as  1909  Dr.  Flood  himself  wrote  in  Church  Music: 

The  most  decisive  proof  of  the  fact  that  the  time  was  composed  by  Smith  is  the  fact  that  he  includes 
it  in  his  Fifth  Collection  of  Canzonets,  Catches,  etc.,  in  1781. 

Shall  we  reckon  Dr.  Flood  among  the  "copyists"  who  attempted  to  "bolster 
up  "  Smith's  claim  by  assigning  a  date  for  his  volume  at  least  18  years  before  the 
appearance  of  the  volume? 

.  .  .  This  "Fifth  Book  of  Canzonets,"  then,  is  the  book  whose  date  of  copy- 
right was  found  (in  October,  1910)  by  Mr.  John  Henry  Blake,  an  American,  after 
a  search  in  the  records  of  Stationers'  Hall,  London,  from  the  dates  1746-1799. 
He  located  the  copyright  entry  of  the  Fifth  Book  of  Canzonets  as  8  May,  1799, 
and  notes  a  misprint  of  the  title  (as  given  above  by  Mr.  Sonneck)  of  which  he 
furnishes  a  photographic  facsimile  in  his  monograph.  The  period-mark  placed 
before  "The  Anacreontic,  and  other  popular  songs,"  should  be  a  comma,  and 
the  word  "The"  should  begin  with  a  small  letter — thus  associating,  Mr.  Blake 
argues,  the  Anacreontic,  not  with  "other  popular  songs,"  but  with  the  previously 
mentioned  "glees."  Mr.  Blake  elevates  into  a  point  of  capital  importance  what 
is  merely  a  printer's  error. 

.  .  .  Mr.  Blake's  very  argument  may  be  neatly  turned  against  himself.  Mr. 
Sonneck,  in  letters  to  me  dated  October  18  and  27,  1913,  does  this  in  the  follow- 
ing mariner: 

"Mr.  Blake  is  correct  in  stating  that  in  my  transcript  of  the  title  of  Smith's 
' '  Fifth  Book  there  is  an  error.  It  should  be  '  author  of  the  favorite  glees  .  .  . 
"Hark  the  hollow  woods,  etc.  the  Anacreontic,  and  other  popular  songs,'  and 
"not  'woods,  etc.  The  Anacreontic  .  .  .'  (the  printer  did  not  follow  copy, 
"but  followed  office  rules  in  using  a  capital  letter  after  a  period  sign,  and  when 
"reading  proof  under  pressure  of  other  business  I  overlooked  the  error). 
"Mr.  Blake  waxes  enthusiastic  over  this  discovery,  claiming  that  Smith  by 
"using  the  lower  case  letter  in  'the'  included  'the  Anacreontic'  among  his 
"  aforesaid  grZees  composed  by  him  and  not  among  his  '  popular  songs. '  There- 
"  fore,  as  '  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven '  first  appeared  as  a  song,  not  as  a  glee.  Smith 
"himself  did  not  claim  to  have  composed  it,  etc.  All  nonsense,  of  course,  but 
"it  ia  this  kind  of  nonsense  which  one  has  to  combat.  The  very  fact,  it  seems 
"tome,  that  the  title  reads  'etc.  the'  shows  that  'the  Anacreontic'  belongs 
"grammatically  to  'and  other  popular  songs'  and  that  '  the  Anacreontic '  was 
"meant  as  a  'song';  and  the  word  'other,'  it  further  |seems  to  me,  compels 
* '  this  interpretation.  And  again  Mr.  Blake  breaks  down  under  his  own  infor- 
"mation,  because,  as  if  the  registrar  wished  to  make  the  point  raised  by  me 


''The    Star    Spangled    Banner"  53 

"above  perfectly  clear,  he  transcribed  Smith's  copyright  certificate  for  Mr. 
"Blake  as  follows:  'the  Hollow  Woods,  etc.,  The  Anacreontic,  and  other 
"popular  songs.'  "o 

.  .  .  Continuing  the  narrative  of  Blake's  discoveries.  Dr.  Flood  writes  in  the 
Ave  Maria: 

He  also  found  indisputable  evidence  that  Smith  merely  arranged  the  tune  in  the  form  of  a  "glee," 
and  that  he  did  not  claim  any  copyright  for  the  tune. 

The  "indisputable  evidence"  seems  to  have  been  the  fact  that  Smith,  in  hia 
Fifth  Book  of  Canzonets  (copyrighted  May  8,  1799),  writes  that  the  tune  was 
"harmonized  by  the  author."  ^\^^at  does  "author  "  mean  here?  Does  it  mean 
the  author  (that  is,  the  compiler  and  editor)  of  the  Fifth  Book,  namely.  Smith; 
or  does  it  mean  the  author  (that  is,  the  composer)  of  the  tune?  Blake  contends 
that  "author"  can  not  mean  "composer"  .  .  . 

A  reader  who  is  not  well  versed  in  the  literatiu-e  of  the  present  discussion 
might  perhaps  suppose  that  Mr.  Blake  had  "discovered"  in  Smith's  Fifth  Book 
the  phrase  "harmonized  by  the  author  "  in  reference  to  the  song  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven."  Not  only  was  the  phrase  and  its  relation  to  the  song  well  known  long 
since,  but  a  facsimile  of  the  page  (in  the  Fifth  Book)  containing  that  phrase 
appeared  in  Mr.  Sonneck's  Report  in  1909. 

Again,  Smith  does  not  refer  to  his  arrangement  of  "Anacreon"  as  a  "glee." 
It  is  not  wrong  so  to  characterize  his  composition;  but  he  himself  did  not  so 
characterize  it.     He  called  it  "Anacreontick  Song." 

As  will  be  seen  further  on,  the  copyright  certificate  appears  to  establish  the 
meaning  of  "author"  to  be  nothing  less  than  "composer."  He  was  the  author 
(composer)  of  the  "whole"  work,  the  tune  of  the  Anacreontic  Song  included. 

Where,  then,  is  the  "indisputable  e\-idence"  that  Smith  "merely  arranged  ihe 
tune  in  the  form  of  a  'glee'"? 

The  remaining  argument  against  Smith's  authorship  of  the  tune  is  stated  by 
Dr.  Flood  in  the  Ave  Maria  as  follows: 

Smith  lived  till  the  year  1836,  and  he  never  asserted  his  claim  as  composer  of  his  melody,  although 
Key  had  written  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner  "  to  it  in  1814.  Surely  it  stands  to  reason  that  if  Smith 
had  composed  the  tune,  and  that  the  said  tune  (whether  set  to  "Anacreon  in  Heaven  "  and  the  "Star- 
Spangled  Banner")  had  been  sung,  printed,  and  circulated  all  over  the  British  possessions  and  in 
America,  he  would,  as  a  true  Britisher,  have  asserted  his  claim  to  it. 

Here  much  is  made  of  Smith's  failure  to  lay  claim  to  the  authorship  of  the  tune. 
In  his  Fifth  Book  of  Canzonets,  etc.,  Smith  did  declare  that  the  tune  there  given 
was  "harmonized  by  the  Author."  Blake  (and,  following  his  lead,  Flood)  can 
see  in  this  declaration  only  a  confession  that  Smith  was  not  the  author  of  the 
tune,  but  merely  the  author  of  the  collection;  and  that  if  Smith  desired  to  vin- 
dicate his  authorship  of  the  tune,  he  should  have  used  the  word  "composer" 
instead  of  "author."  Mr.  Kidson  could  not  see  the  force  of  this  contention.  In 
his  Report  Mr.  Sonneck  had  already  discussed  (p.  23)  this  interesting  question: 

The  words  "harmonized  by  the  author''  may  of  course  mean  harmonized  by  the  author  of  the 
collection  and  do  not  necessarily  mean  harmonized  by  the  author  of  the  air,  but  these  words,  together 
with  the  fact  that  the  collection  contains  none  but  Smith's  own  glees,  etc.,  and  the  wording  of  the 
title  renders  it  probable  that  Smith  refers  to  himself  as  the  composer  of  the  music.  .  .  .  Probably 
Smith  composed  it,  if  he  really  did  compose  the  tune,  as  a  song  for  one  voic-e,  and  in  "  harmonizing  " 
it  for  several  and  different  voices  he  felt  obliged  to  wander  away  from  the  original. 

oThe  transcript  of  the  record  made  in  November,  1913,  for  the  Library  of  Congress 
reads,  "Woods,  etc.,  the  Anacreontic,  and."  In  other  words,  if  this  "t"  instead  of 
a  "T"  in  "the"  is  correct,  then  the  registrar  followed  Smith's  title  exactly,  adding 
the  comma  between  etc.  and  the  in  order  to  make  matters  absolutely  clear. 


54  '^The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

This  brief  extract  from  the -Report  shows  us  that  Mr.  Sonneck  (a)  held  his 
judgment  in  suspense  as  to  the  meaning  of  "author,"  and  (b)  had  not  committed 
himself — ("if  he  really  did  compose  the  tune"  are  his  words) — to  the  common 
ascription  of  the  air  to  Smith.  But  here  it  is  highly  interesting  to  note  with 
what  felicity  he  is  able  to  make  use  of  the  copyright  certificate  subsequently 
given  to  Mr.  Blake  by  the  registrar  of  Stationers'  Hall  records,  to  emphasize 
(almost,  if  not  indeed  quite,  to  the  point  of  con^dction)  the  contention  that 
Smith  really  did  mean  by  the  word  "author"  nothing  less  than  "composer." 
This  interesting  argument  is  thus  stated  in  Mr.  Sonneck's  letters  to  me  (18  and 
27  October,  1913): 

"  Now  the  copyright  record,  as  quoted  with  great  glee  but  little  understanding 
"by  Mr.  Blake,  distinctly  says  imder  'Property  of:'  'Author,'  and  under 
"  '  Share:'  '  Whole.'  Consequently,  if  copyright  certificates  have  any  evidential 
"value  at  all.  Smith  was  oflicially  recorded  as  claiming  the  copyright  in  the 
" whole  ' Fifth  Book '  as  'Author'  (i.  e.,  composer,  because  to  my  knowledge 
"  author  was  the  official  term  used  in  the  statute  for  all  copj-xightable  matter,  in- 
"  eluding  miisical  works,  and  not  corn-poser  f-  and  author  can  mean  in  this  instance 
"  and  under  the  circumstances  composer  only  and  nothing  else,  since  Smith  does 
"not  pose  as  compiler  of  the  music,  much  less  as  author  of  the  texts  (in  several 
"instances  he  mentions  the  authors  of  the  texts).  Ergo,  if  his  words  on  p.  33: 
"  '  The  Anacreontick  Song  (sic!  poor  Mr.  Blake)  harmonized  by  the  author '  could 
"leave  the  doubt  expressed  on  p.  23  of  my  'Report'  as  to  what  Smith  meant 
"by  these  words,  these  words  in  conjunction  with  Smith's  copyright  certificate 
"  now  would  appear  to  establish,  beyond  reasonable  doubt,  that  Smith  claimed 
"to  be  the  author  (composer)  of  '  The  Anacreontick  Song^:  'To  Anacreon  in 
"Heaven,'  'harmonized'  by  him  in  this  'Fifth  Book'  as  a  part-song,  and 
"  designated  a  glee  by  me  in  my  '  Report '  (but  not  by  Smith  himself!). 

"And  this  (it  seems  to  me)  inevitable  conclusion  stops  up  the  keyhole,  which 
"  Mr.  Blake  can  not  keep  open  for  escape,  that  there  is  in  Smith's  Miscellaneous 
"  Collection  of  1780,  on  p.  35,  a  four-part  piece  headed  simply  'Anacreontic' 
"  In  the  index  it  is  called,  'Is  it  summer  .  .  .  GLEE,'  Thereby  Mr.  Blake, 
"  or  anybody  else,  is  enjoined  from  operating  with  the  over-nice  distinction  be- 
"tween  'song'  and  'glee'  {i.  e.,  only  when  it  suits  their  purpose).  They  can 
"  not  say  that  Smith,  in  the  title-page  of  his  '  Fifth  Book,'  referred  to  this  'glee' 
"as  the  popular  Anacreontic  songr  composed  by  him  and  not  to  'Anacreon  in 
"  Heaven. '  No,  the  title-page  apparently  refers  to  '  Anacreon  in  Heaven, '  and  to 
"  this  Anacreontick  Song  (popularly  known  as  the  Anacreontick  song)  in  a  harmon- 
" ized  version  Smith  laid  copyright  claim  on  "May 8, 1799,  as  author  (composer). 

«  Mr.  Ernest  Bruncken,  Assistant  Reg'ster  of  Copyright  in  the  Library  of  Congress, 
had  the  kindness  to  inform  me  as  follows: 

MUrSical  copyright.  The  firet  case  is  that  of  Bach  v.  Longman  (Cowp.,  623),  in  1777. 
Held,  that  the  same  rules  apply  to  both  literary  and  musical  compositions,  because 
the  words  of  the  act  of  1710,  "books  or  other  writings,"  were  not  confined  to  letters 
and  language  only. 

In  D'ALmaine  v.  Boosey  (1 Y.  &  C.  Exch.,  299)  it  is  stated  as  a  fact  that  "a  gi-eat 
deal  of  music"  was  entered  at  Stationers'  Hall  as  books;  and  as  a  matter  of  law  that 
"printed  music,  in  whatever  form  it  may  be  published,  is  to  be  considered  in  refer- 
ence to  copyright  proceedings  as  books." 

The  terms  "author"  and  "composer"  seem  to  be  in  use  interchangeably.  In  the 
statute  the  word  "author"  only  is  used. 

"Musical  composition"  as  a  special  object  of  protection  by  cop>Tight  is  not  men- 
tioned in  these  terms  in  any  copyright  acts  of  Parliament  until  the  act  of  1842. 


''The   Star   Spangled   Banner"  55 

"  Perhaps  he  lied;  but  it  is  up  to  our  friends  Blake  and  Grattan  Flood  to  prove 
"that  he  lied.  Until  they  produce  proof  of  fraudulent  claim,  Smith's  ctom  at 
"  least  will  stand  good  in  any  court  of  scientific  inquiry,  and  I  can  not  see  how, 
"  under  the  circumstances,  we  can  deny  that  Smith  composed  'To  Anacreon  in 
"  Heaven,'  unless  a  prior  authenticated  claim  by  some  other  composer  is  pro- 
"  duced. 

"And  with  [read  in  view  of]  Smith's  own  copyright  claim  the  silly  ai^ument 
"  collapses  that,  if  Smith  had  been  the  composer,  he  would  have  taken  pains  to 
"tell  the  world  that  he  was  the  composer.  Well,  he  did,  on  May  8,  1799,  and 
"that  is  all  there  is  to  this  phase  of  the  matter  at  present,  so  far  as  I  can  see." 

To  sum  up:  Even  the  most  obstinate  opponent  of  Smith  has  so  far 
not  denied  that,  ''To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  excepted,  John  Stafford 
Smith  was  the  composer  of  the  music  in  his  Filth  Book.  The  word 
author  used  by  Smith  in  the  title,  in  the  copyi-ight  entiy,  and  in  the 
dedication  to  Viscount  Dudley  and  Ward,  where  he  says:  "These  glees 
and  songs  .  .  .  are  .  .  .  himibly  inscribed  by  the  obliged  author," 
has  so  far  not  been  denied  to  be  the  equivalent  not  merely  of  com- 
piler  of  the  collection  called  Fifth  Book,  but  of  composer  of  the  music 
therein  contained,  with  exception  of  the  disputed  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven."  Should  now  the  opponents  of  John  Stafford  Smith  deny 
that  he  was  the  actual  composer  of  all  other  music  contained  in  the 
Fifth  Book,  in  order  to  operate  vntb.  the  word  "author"  in  the  sense 
of  "compiler"  with  special  reference  to  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven," 
then  the  burden  of  proof  would  be  entirely  on  their  shoulders.  Their 
mere  denial  mil  be  valueless  m  a  court  of  scientific  inquiry  until  such 
proof  is  fuinished.  Until  then  the  word  "author"  used  by  Smith, 
as  occasionally  by  other  eighteenth  century  composers,  will  be  con- 
strued by  every  unbiased  historian  in  its,  under  the  circumstances, 
most  natural  and  indeed  obvious  sense  ot  composer. 

"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  became  popularly  known,  as  the  reader 
can  not  fail  to  have  noticed,  as  "The  Anacreon  tick  Song."  Of  the 
many  Anacreontic  songs  of  the  time  it  appears  to  have  been  the  only 
one  to  have  gamed  such  distmction.  In  the  title  of  his  Fifth  Book 
John  Stafford  Smith  calls  himself  the  author  of  "  the  Anacreontic, 
and  other  popular  songs."  In  the  copyright  entry  of  this  Fifth  Book 
on  May  8,  1799,  Smith  laid  copyright  claim  to  the  whole  book  as 
author.  On  page  33  of  this  Filth  Book  "To  Anacreon  m  Heaven" 
appears  m  a  version  "harmonized  by  the  author."  Though,  if  so 
inclmed,  one  may  designate  this  arrangement  as  a  glee.  Smith  him- 
self did  not  so  designate  it.  He  headed  this  harmonized  version  of 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  simply  as  "The  Anacreontick  Song,"  and 
in  the  index  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven  .  .  .  harmonized"  is  one  of 
the  only  two  pieces  in  the  book  called  "Song."  If  an  obstmate 
opponent  of  Smith's  claim  argues  that,  strictly  speakmg,  "harmo- 
nized by  the  author"  may  mean  harmonized  by  the  author  of  the 
words,  Ralph  Tomlinson,  then  the  deduction  is  all  the  more  inevitable 


56  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

that  John  Stafford  Smith  claimed  to  be  the  author  of  the  music  (i.  e. 
composer)  of  "The  Anacreontick  Song"  with  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven"  as  text. 

Without  unduly  wishing  to  influence  readers  of  this  revised  *  'Report " 
one  way  or  the  other,  self -protection  against  misrepresentation  demands 
that  I  put  myself  squarely  on  record  with  this  personal  opinion: 

Available  evidence,  and  a  more  thorough  study  of  it,  than  in 
1909,  together  with  the  deductive  force  of  Mr.  Blake's  discovery 
of  the  copyright  entry  of  Smith's  Fifth  Book  compel  me  to  believe 
that  the  music  of  ralph  tomlinson's  poem  "to  anacreon  in 

heaven"    was    indeed    composed     by    JOHN     STAFFORD     SMITH. 

Words  and  music  of  this  song,  later  on  popularly  kno-vvn  as 
"The  Anacreontick  Song,"  probably  originated  about  the  year 
1775;  at  any  rate,  before  the  Anacreontic  Society  moved  from 
Ludgate  Hill,  London,  to  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern  in  the 
Strand." 

One  may  indeed  express  surprise  that  John  Stafford  Smith  waited 
until  1799  before  he  publicly  claimed  the  music  of  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven"  as  his  own.  But  are  we  really  certain  that  he  did  not  claim 
it  years  before?  May  there  not  be  hidden  away  somewhere  in  "the 
wreck  of  time" — Bacon's  beautiful  phrase  used  by  Rev.  Henry — 
direct  evidence  of  Smith's  authorship,  if  not  his  own  manuscript,  then 
perhaps  some  reference  in  contemporary  letters  or  the  like?  Even 
in  the  absence  of  such  evidence,  so  late  a  claim  as  that  of  Smith  would 
not  be  without  a  parallel.  Rev.  Henry  strikingly  illustrates  this  by 
pointing  to  Father  Clarence  Walworth's  translation  "Holy  God,  we 
praise  thy  name"  of  the  "Te  Deum, "  published  anonymously  in 
1853  in  a  Redemptorist  "Mission  Book."  His  hymn  found  its  way 
into  many  books.  Catholic  and  Protestant,  but  this  translation  was 
never  printed  with  his  name  until  1880  and  then  in  an  "Evangelical 
Hymnal."  Father  Walworth  himself  did  not  publicly  lay  claim  to 
his  hymn  until  1888,  when  he  published  his  "Andiatorocte,  etc.," 

a  On  purpose  the  method  of  fixing  authorship  by  "internal  evidence,"  "stilistic 
characteristics,"  etc.,  was  not  dragged  into  this  matter.  Legitimate  enough  and 
necessary  where  no  binding  proof  of  authorship  in  the  hand  of  the  author  or  no  posi- 
tive claim  by  him  of  authorship  exists,  it  is  often  an  unsafe  method  and  lends  itself 
easily  to  pedantry  or  preconceived  preferences.  It  is  doubly  unsafe  in  our  case. 
Neither  do  the  few  bars  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven "  abound  in  stilistic  peculiari- 
ties, nor  do  the  five  books  of  Smith's  music  reveal  stilistic  characteristics  sufficiently 
tangible  for  profitable  comparison  with  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven."  My  impression 
is  that  the  music  in  these  five  books,  on  the  whole,  does  not  conjure  memories  of 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  though  now  and  then,  as  in  Smith's  prize  medal  glee 
of  1777  "Return  blest  days"  at  the  words  "Breast  if  e'er  my  cheek"  {In  Smith's 
"Select  collection  of  catches  .  .  .")  I  was  startlingly  reminded  of  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven.''  However,  such  impressions  are  too  personal  to  be  of  any  evidential 
value. 


''The   Star   Spangled   Banner"  57 

that  is,  35  years  after  it  had  first  appeared  in  print[ !  ]  "  Supposing," 
says  Rev.  Henry,  the  EvangeHcal  Hymnal  of  1880  "had  disappeared 
and  Father  Walworth  had  not  lived  to  bring  out  his  volume  of  poems, 
we  should  not  find  it  an  easy  matter  to  settle  at  this  late  day  the 
question  of  authorship.     Late  day — but  13  years  after  his  death." 

We,  who  daily  have  to  catalogue  music,  know  best  how  much 
anonymous  music  exists  in  manuscript  and  in  print.  Some  composer 
must  be  responsible  for  the  individual  piece,  but  it  is  the  exception, 
rather  than  the  rule,  if  circumstantial  evidence  enables  us  to  credit 
the  music  with  some  degree  of  certainty  to  its  composer.  The  path 
of  cataloguers  and  bibliographers  would  be  smooth  indeed,  though 
perhaps  less  interesting,  if  signposts  so  prominent  as  in  the  case  of 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  always  guided  them  in  their  work.  Very 
often  we  have  to  struggle  forward  without  such  signposts.  An  author 
or  composer  is  at  perfect  liberty  to  withhold  his  authorship  of  a  work 
from  the  public  or  not.  He  may  have  reasons  for  keeping  a  work 
anonymous  that  influence  him  more  than  the  considerations  of  glory 
or  of  the  convenience  of  cataloguers,  historians,  and  readers.  He 
runs  the  risk  of  never  being  identified  with  a  work  that  may  live 
through  many  centuries  as  a  master  work,  but  we  have  no  right  to 
quarrel  with  him  for  running  such  a  risk.  If  he  finally,  after  many 
years,  and  again  for  reasons,  known  or  unknown  to  us,  does  consent 
to  lift  the  veil  of  anonymity,  at  least  we  bibliographers  feel  grateful, 
do  not  quarrel  with  him,  give  him  the  benefit  of  the  doubt,  and  do 
not  cast  suspicions  on  his  tardy  claim  of  authorship,  unless  compelled 
by  convincing  evidence  to  the  contrary. 

Mr.  Blake's  patient  search  through  the  Stationers'  Hall  records 
from  1746  to  1799  and  search  through  the  same  records  from  1770  to 
1800,  undertaken  in  1913  for  the  Library  of  Congress,  have  made  it 
fairly  certain  that  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  was  not  entered  in  any 
form  for  copyright  either  by  the  composer  or  by  a  publisher  prior  to 
May  8,  1799.**  Now,  mere  copyright  entry  wiU  never  prove  author- 
ship eo  ipso.  If  a  piece  of  music  is  entered  for  copyright,  the  pre- 
sumption of  authorship  wiU  of  course  be  so  strongly  in  favor  of  the 
composer  mentioned  that  bibliographers  or  historians  will  accept 
his  authorship  in  the  absence  of  proof  to  the  contrary.  However, 
the  moment  their  suspicions  are  aroused,  they  wiU  look  upon  a 
copyright  entry  as,  what  historically  considered  it  reaUy  is,  a  mere 

o  The  only  time  that  ''To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  was  incidentally  mentioned  in 
these  records  from  1770  to  1800  appears  to  have  occurred  when  P.  Jung  on  February  9, 
1793  "entred  for  his  Copy  Tlie  Knave's  Necklace,  or  Every  Rogue  a  Halter,  a  new 
Anacreontic,  the  words  by  a  gentleman.  Sung  at  a  loyal  Association  at  T — r  previous 
to  burning  Tom  Paine  in  Effigy  to  the  Tune  of  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven."  This  is 
again  (indirect)  proof  that  the  tune  was  not  protected  by  copyright  and  could  be  used 
for  other  than  the  original  words. 


68  "The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

piece  of  circumstantial  evidence  of  authorship,  and  will  insist  on 
other  corroborative  evidence,  at  the  very  least,  in  the  particular 
pubUcation  itself."  On  the  other  hand,  neglect  of  copyright  entry 
may  invalidate  a  composer's  proprietory  rights  legally,  but  never  his 
authorship  historically,  if  such  authorship  can  be  proved  by  direct  or 
indirect  evidence.  This  is  the  case  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven," 
where  Smith's  copyright  claim  together  with  other  evidence  has  estab- 
lished his  musical  authorship  beyond  reasonable  doubt. 

Had  Smith  or  a  pubUsher  registered  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  at 
Stationers'  Hall  immediately  upon  pubhcation,  they  could  have 
vindicated  the  copyright  of  the  song  as  Rev.  Henry  pointed  out 
"nowhere  save  in  Great  Britain:" 

The  Englisli  copyright  law  then  in  existence  did  not  extend  to  Ireland  until 
after  the  Act  of  Union  in  1800.  .  .  .  English  copyrighted  books  were  freely  pub- 
lished in  Dublin  and  sometimes,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  English  publishers, 
were  carried  into  England  ...  in  the  American  colonies,  the  Kevolution  removed 
publishers  from  all  liability  to  English  law,  whether  statute  or  common  and  .  .  . 
the  British  colonies  were  not  under  the  operation  of  the  English  copyright  law. 
If  Smith  ...  as  might  easily  have  been  the  case,  had  transferred  his  common- 
law  right  to  the  publisher  of  some  "collection"  of  music,  his  name  would  not 
appear  in  the  records  of  Stationers'  Hall. 

Once  copyright  entry  was  neglected,  Smith  was  practically  power- 
less to  stop  piracy  of  his  song  in  its  original  form  (piracy  in  the  ethical, 
not  in  the  legal  sense)  even  in  Great  Britain.  His  only  opportunity  for 
a  copyright  claim  after  that  would  have  been  to  register  the  song  in 
an  arrangement.  By  the  copyright  act  then  in  force  an  author  could 
obtain  cop^Tight  for  two  terms  of  14  years  each,  or  for  a  possible  total 
of  28  years.  Now,  there  is  a  very  remote  possibility  that  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven"  was  first  published  in  1771,  i.  e.  exactly  28  years  before 
1799.  A  peculiar  coincidence  this  is,  and  shrewdly  Rev.  Henry  seizes 
upon  it,  for  a  possible  explanation  of  entry.  Smith  waited  until  1799 
before  he  laid  claim  to  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  because 

Had  Smith  written  his  tune  in  1770-1771,  his  right  to  it  could  not  sui-\'ive  the 
year  1799;  and  it  is  quite  permissible  to  suppose  that  he  was  ready,  in  that  year, 
with  an  arrangement  of  the  tune  as  a  glee,  so  that  a  new  term  of  copyright 
might  be  granted  him. 

o  As  an  illustration  of  how  valueless  a  mere  copyright  entry  may  become  for  purely 
historical  purposes,  I  submit  the  following  case  recently  brought  to  my  attention.  A 
young  and  fairly  well  known  composer  submitted  the  manuscript  of  a  song  to  a 
prominent  American  publisher  for  publication.  Had  the  publisher  accepted  it, 
the  song  in  due  course  of  time  would  have  been  registered  for  copyright  and  this 
Bong  in  the  form  published  would  probably  have  been  legally  safe  against  reprint  not 
only,  but  the  presumption  of  authorship  would  have  been  very  strongly  and  per- 
manently in  favor  of  the  composer  mentioned.  The  firm's  "tester"  of  manuscripts 
had  his  suspicions  aroused  by  some  melodic  phrase  in  the  song  and  he  found  that, 
though  the  text  was  new,  the  music  was  practically  identical  with  that  of  one  of  Schu- 
bert's beautiful  but  fairly  unknown  songs.  Needless  to  say,  this  song  by  Schubert 
"composed"  by  the  audacious  young  gentleman  was  not  published,  at  any  rate  not 
by  that  particular  firm. 


''The    Star    Spangled    Banner' 


59 


Of  course,  the  new  term  of  copyright  would  have  applied  to  'To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven  "  in  its  ' '  harmonized ' '  version,  but  not  in  its  orig- 
inal form  as  song  for  one  voice,"  which  had  become  pubHc  property. 

Personally,  I  doubt  very  much  that  ''To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  was 
published  as  a  sheet  song  as  early  as  1771.  I  also  doubt  that  Smith's 
inclusion  of  it  in  a  ''harmonized"  version  in  his  Fifth  Book  was  due 
to  any  special  consideration  of  the  copyright  laws.  I  am  inclined  to 
believe  that  it  simply  had  struck  Smith's  fancy  as  a  composer  to 

"  a  As  stated  in  my  "Report"  of  1909,  the  "Anacreontic  Songs  for  1,  2,  3  &  4  voices 
composed  and  selected  by  Doctr.  Arnold  and  dedicated  by  permission  to  the  Anacreon- 
tic Society.     London.     Printed  for  J.  Bland,  No.  45  Holborn,  1785  "  and,  so  a  manu- 
script note  in  the  Library  of  Congress  copy  informs  us,  "pubd.  as  the  Act  directs  4th 
June  1785"  do  not  include  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven."     In  this  very  scarce  collection 
Arnc,  Arnold,  Baildon,  Boyce,  Green,  Handel,  etc.  are  mentioned  as  composers  but  not 
John'stafford  Smith.     Now,  there  occurs  on  the  pictorial  title-page  an  obvious  allusion 
to  Tomlinson's  poem,  since  Mmnus  ivith  his  rinhle  phiz  is  pictured  showing  to  old 
Thunder  ' '  The  humble  petition  of  the  members  of  the  Anacreontic . "     In  addition  some 
kind  of  a  winged  being  with  a  herald's  trumpet  is  bearing  a  legend  "Anacreontic 
Society."     Under  these  circumstances,  we  certainly  have  a  right  to  wonder  at  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  society's  by  that  time  fairly  famous  constitutional  song  from  Arnold's 
collection.     Rev.  Henry  advances  this  explanation:    "Apparently  some  copyright 
law  forbade  the  inclusion  of  the  tune.     If,  at  that  early  day,  nobody  claimed  it,  it 
seems  hard  to  explain,  why,  of  all  the  songs  open  to  Dr.  Arnold  for  inclusion,  it  should 
have  been  passed  over  in  silence."     Difficult  of  proof,  as  this  explanation  is,  it  ib 
plausible      Of  course,  the  puzzle  would  disappear  if  it  should  turn  out  that  the  Library 
of  Congress  copy  is  incomplete  and  should  reaUy  contain  also  ' '  To  Anacreon  m  Heaven. ' ' 
The  make-up  of  the  collection  is  pecuUar.     After  the  title  page  (verso  blank)  come  p. 
[1]  2-63.     On  verso  of  this  p.  63  begins  Arnold'ssong  "Flow  thou  regal  purple  stream" 
from  his  "Castle  of  Andalusia  "  and  the  song  has  the  pagination  2^.     With  it  our  copy 
stops      There  is  no  index  and  nothing  to  indicate  that  our  copy  is  incomplete,  but  as  it 
appears  to  coincide  with  that  at  the  British  Museum,  it  probably  is  complete.     On 
the  other  hand  there  are  plenty  of  indications  that  previously  published  music  plates 
had  simply  been  pressed  into  service  for  this  compilation  by  Arnold.    Supposing,  then, 
that  minute  bibUographical  research  should  establish  the  fact  that  the  book,  with 
exception  perhaps  of  one  or  two  compositions  by  Arnold,  contains  none  but  songs,  etc., 
previously/  published  on  plates  of  the  same  size,  would  not  that  fact  suggest  perhaps  the 
probability  that  Bland  did  not  care  to  go  to  the  expense  of  engraving  and  printing 
music  still  in  manuscript?     If  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  in  1785  was  still  m  manu- 
script, i.  e.  as  sung  by  the  "Anacreontic  Society,"  would  not  that  fact,  then,  furnish 
another  plausible  explanation,  why  the  song  was  not  inserted  by  Arnold?     Of  course, 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  can  not  very  well  have  been  in  manuscript  in  1785  in  the 
form  as  sung  by  the  "Anacreontic  Society,"  if  Longman  &  Broderip,  who  published 
the  song  with  the  double  address  of  the  firm  in  the  imprint,  liad  actually  opened  their 
branch  shop  at  13,  Haymarket  before  1785.     With  just  a  little  imagination,  one  may 
stumble  upon  other  explanations.     For  instance,  there  may  have  existed  intense  pro- 
fessional rivalry  between  Smith  and  Arnold,  and  Smith  may  have  forbidden  the 
insertion  of  his  song  in  a  compilation  by  Arnold  or  Arnold  did  not  care  to  insert 
music  by  Smith;  or,  the  Anacreontic  Society  ^-iewed  the  publicity  its  constitutional 
song  had  already  gained  with  displeasure  and  (in  vain)  did  all  in  its  power  to  prevent 
further  publicity.     I  leave  it  to  others  to  indulge  in  futile  speculation  along  these 
lines,  but,  to  repeat  it,  if  Arnold  had  composed  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven  "  he  pre- 
sumably would  have  inserted  it  in  the  collection. 


60  ''The    Star   Spangled    Banner" 

"harmonize"  his  song  or  that  somebody,  perhaps  members  of  the 
Anacreontic  Society,  had  suggested  an  arrangement  of  his  and  their 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  as  a  glee  for  club  purposes.  I  am  all  the 
more  incUned  to  such  a  simple  explanation,  because  Smith's  other 
collections  did  not  always  contain  his  music  in  its  orginal  form.  For 
instance,  in  his  Mscellaneous  Collection  of  New  Songs,  [1780]  liis 
"Chearful  glee"  (on  p.  42)  had  been  "alter'd  &  adapted  for  treble 
voices"  by  him. 

Those  who  with  jMt.  Blake  take  it  for  granted  that  John  Stafford 
Smith  was  a  "good  business  man"  probably  will  stiU  insist  on  asking: 
Does  it  not  stand  to  reason  that  Smith  would  have  safeguarded  his 
financial  interests  by  entering  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  for  copy- 
right, if  he  reaUy  was  the  composer  ?  and  Since  he  apparently  did  not 
copyright  the  song,  does  not  this  absence  of  a  copyright  claim  ai^ue 
against  his  authorship  ?  Why,  then,  if  he  was  the  composer,  did  he 
not  copyright  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  in  its  original  form  as  a 
song?  To  ask  such  questions  is  very  much  easier  than  to  answer 
them  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  ask  them.  In  themselves  these 
questions  are  reasonable  enough,  but  they  proceed  from  a  faulty 
premise.  If  by  neglect  of  copyright  entry  of  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven"  Smith  had  furnished  a  glaring  exception  to  a  universal 
rule,  then,  indeed,  but  only  then  would  these  questions  have  the 
force  of  negative  arguments.  As  a  matter  of  fact — this  opinion  was 
recently  verified  through  Miss  Constance  H.  White  for  the  Library 
of  Congress  by  the  ofiicials  of  Stationers'  Hall — copyright  entry  at 
Stationers'  Hall  was  never  compulsory,  and  though  even  many 
sheet  songs  were  entered  and  certified  for  copyright,  much  music 
was  published  in  England  between  the  years  1770  and  1800  without 
having  been  copyrighted  at  all.  This  important  fact  applies  not 
merely  to  obscure  British  composers  or  music  publishers,  but  with 
equal  force  to  the  best  known,  and  it  applies  also  to  a  good  deal  of 
valuable  music  issued  anonymously,  as  every  student  of  Mr.  Barclay 
Squire's  catalogue  appreciates.  How  are  we  to  know  at  this  late 
date  why  this  or  that  "good  business  man"  among  composers  and 
music  pubUshers  neglected  to  put  himself  under  the  protecting  wing 
of  the  copyright  act?  To  speculate  along  these  lines  appears,  at 
least  to  me,  to  be  futile.  Moreover,  such  speculation  projects  mod- 
ern practices  into  the  past  with  its  different  practices  and  against 
such  inapplicable,  anachronistic  comparison  those  who  dabble  in 
history  can  not  be  warned  too  strongly.  To  lose  their  amateurish 
flavor  and  to  partake  of  legitimate  historical  curiosity,  questions  like 
the  above  would  have  to  be  amended  thus:  If  Smith  was  in  the 
habit  of  copyrighting  his  music  and  if  he  did  compose  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven,"  does  it  not  stand  to  reason  that  he  would  have  copy- 
righted also  this  song  ?  and  If  he  did  not  copyright  it,  does  not  this 


The   Star   Spangled   Banner" 


61 


fact,  considering  his  habits  in  such  matters,  argue  against  his  author- 
ship ?  A  satisfactory  answer  to  these  legitimate  questions  with  their 
inferential  force  can  only  be  given  by  establishing  first  Smith's  habits 
in  the  matter  of  copyright  claims.  Accordingly,  the  Library  of 
Congress  instructed  its  London  agents  to  search  the  Stationers  Hall 
records  from  1770  to  1800  with  special  reference  to  the  following 
works  of  Jolin  Stafford  Smith  preceding  his  Fifth  Book  of  1799  and 
all  in  our  possession: 

A  Select  collection  of  catches  canons  and  glees  of  different  kinds  .  .  .  com- 
posed by  J.  S.  Smith,  London,  John  Welcker  [1780?] 

A  Miscellaneous  collection  of  New  Songs,  catches  and  glees  ...  the  whole 
compos'd  by  John  Stafford  Smith,  London,  James  Blundell  [1780] 

A   collection   of   glees  .  .  .  including   some  .  .  .  which   have   S^J^^d   pnze 
medals  ...  the  whole  composed  by  J.  S.  Smith.     London,  ;\«l^^f'- tl^^^^^^J  .^, 
A  Collection  of  Songs  of  various  kinds  .  .  .  Composed  by  John  Stafford  Smith. 

London,  J.  Preston  [date?] 

W6  loere  informed  that  no  copyright  entry  was  found  for  any  of  these 
worls,  nor  for  any  other  worl  hy  John  Stafford  Smith,  except  has  Fijth 

Boole!         '  .  ,    .      ,  •  1 

Evidently  Smith  was  not  in  the  habit  of  copyrighting  his  works. 
If  he  did  not  consider  it  necessary  to  claim  copyright  m  four  out 
of  his  five  collections,  we  have  no  right  to  find  fault  with  him-fault 
belated  and  based  on  the  inapplicable  practice  of  modern  composers- 
for  having  neglected  to  copyright  "To  Anacreon  m  Heaven  !  Still 
less  the  right  to  play  out  unsound  "business"  arguments  against  the 
word  of  a  Gentleman  of  His  Majesty's  Chapels  Royal  that  he,  John 
Stafford  Smith,  was  the  author  (composer)  of  ''To  Anacreon  m 
Heaven,"  once  popular  as  "The  Anacreontic  Song  '• 

Tracing  the  American  history  of  the  air,  or  rather  the  history  of  its 
use  in  America,  one  runs  across  these  statements  m  Mr.  Salisbury  s 
"Essay  on  The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  1873,  page  7: 

I  do  not  discover  that  it  was  a  favorite  -^en  Robert  Treat  Paine,  jr..  used  it« 
measure  in  his  spirited  song  entitled  "Adams  and  Liberty     [1798]. 

Page  9: 

\fter  sixteen  years,  in  which  the  tune  of  the  Anacreontic  song  was  seldom 
he'^d  L'hi^country  orin  Europe,  it  was  applied  to  the  pathetic  versesof  Mr.  Key. 
The  second  of  these  statements  is  nonsensical,  the  first  at  least 
improbable,  because  it  is  now  known  that  the  "^^^^^^^^^f/^^^^";^^ 
between  England  and  America  was  too  lively  m  those  dajs  to  have 
permitted  such  a  weU-known  air  as  "To  Anacreon  m  Heaven  pub- 
fished  in  the  most  popular  -Uectons,  to  have  renamed  bar.e^^^^ 
our  shores  The  chances  are  entu-ely  m  favor  of  the  possibihtj  that 
the  song  had  its  votaries  here  in  the  seventies  or  eighties  the  more  so 
as  Parke  states  Sir  Richard  Hankey,  later  on  president  of  the  Anacre- 
ontic Society,  to  have  served  in  the  British  army  durmg  our  war  for 
independence  Nor  would  it  be  at  aU  reasonable  to  assume  that  the 
"coCb  an  Anacreontic  Society"  founded  in  imitation  of  the  Lon- 


62  ^'The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

don  Society  in  1795  at  New  York,  the  moving  spirit  of  which  was  for 
years  the  great  actor-vocaHst  and  bon  vivant  John  Hodgkinson, 
should  not  have  helped  to  spread  a  familiarity  with  *  'To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven, "  Indeed,  at  least  one  performance  of  it  in  public  is  reason- 
ably certain,  namely,  when  the  "Anacreontic  Song"  was  sung  by  Mr. 
J.  West  at  a  concert  at  Savannah,  Ga.,  August  19,  1796.  However, 
Mr.  Salisbury  himself  assists  in  undermining  his  theory  that  ''To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven"  was  little  known  in  America  before  it  was 
applied  to  Key's  "pathetic  verses. "  On  page  5  of  his  essay  he  writes 
of  having  seen  it  in  his  copy  of  "The  Vocal  Companion,  published  in 
Philadelphia,  by  Matthew  Carey  in  1796."  It  matters  little  that  no 
copy  of  this  mysterious  collection  is  preserved  at  the  Library  of  Con- 
gress, Boston  Pubhc,  New  York  PubUc,  Brown  University,  Phila- 
delphia Library  Company,  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  Princeton 
University,  American  Antiquarian  Society;  Mr.  Salisbury  must  have 
seen  the  song  in  a  copy  of  some  collection  in  his  possession.  Then 
he  mentions  Robert  Treat  (scil.  Thomas)  Paine's  spirited  "Adams 
and  Liberty"  ("Ye  Sons  of  Columbia  who  bravely  have  fought") 
written  for  and  sung  to  the  tune  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  at  the 
anniversary  of  the  Massachusetts  Charitable  Fire  Society  in  Boston 
on  June  1,  1798.  A  photographic  facsimile  of  this  famous  song  is 
given  here  as  it  was  published  in  the  very  popular  "American  Musical 
Miscellany"  of  1798.  (Appendix,  Plate  X.)  Mr.  Salisbury  further 
mentions  Paine's  song  "Spain"  set  to  the  same  tune  for  a  Boston  fes- 
tival in  honor  of  the  Spanish  patriots,  January  24,  1809.  He  also 
mentions  (in  footnote,  p.  10)  a  "patriotic  offshot"  of  the  Anacreontic 
song,  "perhaps  as  good  as  any  other  commonly  known  before  1814"  [!] 
which  appeared  in  The  New  York  Remembrancer,  Albany,  1802,  with 
the  first  line  "To  the  Gods  who  preside  o'er  the  nation  below," 
attributed  by  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  May  1,  1873,  to  Jonathan 
Mitchell  Sewall,  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 

To  these  four  instances  of  the  early  American  use  of  "To  xlnacreon 
in  Heaven"  may  be  added  these  in  the  following  collections: 

1797.  Columbian  Songster,  New  York,  p.   136.    Song:  For  the  glorious  Four- 
teenth of  July.    ("  The  Genius  of  France  from  his  star  begem'd  throne. ") 
1799.  Columbian  Songster,  Wrentham,  Mass.     Song.   32:     Union  of  the  gods. 

1799.  A  Collection  of  Songs  selected  from  the  works  of  Mr.  Charles  Dibdin,  to 

which  are  added  the  newest  and  most  favorite  American  Patriotic 

Songs,  Philadelphia, 
p.  315.  Boston  Patriotic  Song  [Adams  and  Liberty], 
p.  326.  Our  Country's  efficiency  ("Ye  sons  of  Columbia,  determined 
to  keep"). 

1800.  American  Songster,  Baltimore: 

p.      9.  "To  Colimabia,  who  gladly  reclin'd  at  her  ease  .  .  . 
p.     13.  "Ye  Sons  of  Columbia,  unite  in  the  cause." 

No  tunes  are  indicated  for  these  two,  but  the  metre  plainly  suggests 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heav'n." 
p.  233.   "To  Anacreon  in  Heav'n." 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  63 

1802.  Vocal  companion,  Boston.     Song  XVI.     By  J.  F.  Stanfield,  Sunderland. 

("Not  the  fictions  of  Greece,  nor  the  dreams  of  old  Rome.") 

1803.  The  American  Republican  Harmonist: 

p.  4.  "New  Song  sung  at  the  celebration  of  the  4th  of  July,  at  Sara- 
toga and  Waterford,  N.  Y.  By  William  Foster"  (Brave  sons 
of  Columbia,  your  triumph  behold). 

p.  30.  Jefferson  and  Liberty.  ("Ye  sons  of  Columbia,  who  cherish 
the  prize."     Text  merely  altered  from  Adams  and  Liberty.) 

p.  105.  Song  [for  the  fourth  of  July,  1803]  ("In  years  which  are  past, 
when  America  fought). 

p.  111.  Song.  Sung  on  the  4th  of  March,  at  an  entertainment  given  by 
the  American  Consul  at  London.  ("Well  met,  fellow  free 
men!  lets  cheerfully  greet.") 

p.  126.  Song  for  the  anniversary  festival  of  the  Tammany  Society, 
May  12,  1803.     Written  by  Brother  D.  E. 

1804.  'Nightingale,'  selected  by  Samuel  Larkin,  Portsmouth. 

p.    69.  Adams  and  Liberty, 
p.  188.  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven. 
1804.  Baltimore  Musical  Miscellany: 

V.  1,  p.    26.  Anacreon  in   Heaven   (given  in  Appendix  in   facsimile, 
PI.  XI). 
p.    29.  "When  Bibo  went  down  to  the  regions  below." 
p.  121.  Sons  of  Columbia  [Adams  and  Liberty]. 
V.  2,  p.  158.  The  Social  Club. 
1811.  Musical  Repository,  Augusta. 

p.    22.  Young  Bibo.     ("For  worms   when   old    Bibo   prov'd    delicate 

fun.") 
p.  140.  Adams  and  Liberty  [without  indication  of  the  tune], 
p.  207.  Union   of   the   Gods.     ("To   Columbia,    who  gladly   clined   at 
her  ease.") 
1813.  James  J.  Wilson,  National  Song  Book,  Trenton. 

p.    43.  "For  the  Fourth  of  July"  ("Columbians  arise!    let  the  cannon 

resound . " ) 
p.    66.  "Embargo  and  Peace"   ("When  our  sky  was  illuminated  by 

freedom's  bright  dawn.") 
p.    68.  "Union   and    Liberty."     ("Hark!  The   Trumpet   of   war   from 

the  East  sounds  alarm.") 
p.    70.  "Freedom."     ("Of  the  victory  won  over  tyrany's  power.") 
p.    87.  "The  Fourth  of  July."    ("O'er  the  forest  crowned  hills,  the 

rich  vallies  and  streams.") 
p.    88.  "Jefferson's  Election."     Sung  by  the  Americans  in  London, 
March  4,   1802.     "Well  met,   fellow  freemen!     Let's  cheer- 
fully greet.") 
In   addition  to  these  references  should   be   mentioned   the  very 
scarce    sheet    song    in    possession    of    the    Boston    Public    Library 
(reproduced  by  permission  in  the  Appendix,  Plate  XII):  ''Adams 
and  Liberty.     The    Boston    Patriotic   Song.     Written    by  Thomas 
Paine,  A.  M.     ...New  York.     Printed   &  Sold   by  W.  Howe,  Organ 
Builder  &    Importer  of    all    Kinds    of    Musical    Instruments.     No. 
320  Pearl  Street."     (This  sheet  song  can  not  have  appeared  before 
1798  nor  after  1799  since  we  find  in  the  New  York  City  Directory  of 
1800  "Howe,  widow  of  William,  musical  store,  320  Pearl  St."     The 
date  probably  is  1798.) 


THE  STAR-SPANGLED  BANNER 


Opinions  differ  widely  on  the  merits  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner" 
as  a  national  song.  Some  critics  fail  to  see  in  Francis  Scott  Key's 
inspired  lines  poetry  of  more  than  patriotic  value.  Some  look  upon 
it  merely  as  a  flag  song,  a  military  song,  but  not  as  a  national  hymn. 
Some  criticize  the  melody  for  its  excessive  range,  but  others  see  no 
defects  in  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  and  feel  not  less  enthusiastic 
over  its  esthetic  merits  as  a  national  song  than  over  its  sincere  patri- 
otic sentiment.  This  controversy  will  be  decided,  whether  rightly  or 
wrongly,  by  the  American  people  regardless  of  critical  analysis,  leg- 
islative acts,  or  naive  efforts  to  create  national  songs  by  prize  com- 
petition. This  report  does  not  concern  itseff  at  all  with  such  quasi 
esthetic  problems,  nor  is  it  here  the  place  to  trace  the  political  history 
of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  beyond  what  is  necessary  for  the 
understanding  of  its  history  as  a  national  song. 

Until  recently  the  first,  though  brief ,  account  of  the  origin  of  "The 
Star-Spangled  Banner"  was  believed  to  have  appeared  m  the  Balti- 
more American  on  September  21,  1814,  but  Mr.  John  C.  Fitzpatrick, 
of  the  Manuscript  Division  of  the  Library  of  Congress,  found  in  our 
volume  of  the  Baltunore  Patriot  (publishers,  Munroe  &  French), 
which  had  not  been  accessible  to  me  when  I  wrote  my  "Report"  of 
1909,  the  foUowmg  account  m  No.  59,  September  20,  1814,  the  first 
issue  of  the  paper  after  its  temporary  suspension  of  publication  with 
No.  58,  September  10,  1814: 

DEFENSE    OF  FORT  m'HENRY. 

[The  following  beautiful  and  animating  effusion,  which  is  destined  long  to  outlast 
the  occasion  and  outlive  the  impulse  which  produced  it,  has  already  been  exten- 
sively circulated.  In  our  first  renewal  of  publication  we  rejoice  in  an  opportunity 
to  enliven  the  sketch  of  an  exploit  so  illustrious,  with  strains  which  a:)  fitly  cele- 
brate it.]— Ed.  Pat. 

The  annexed  song  was  composed  under  the  following  circumstances:  A  gentle- 
man had  left  Baltimore  in  a  flag  of  truce  for  the  purpose  of  getting  released  from  the 
British  fleet  a  friend  of  his  who  had  been  captured  at  Mariborough.  He  went  as 
far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Patuxent,  and  was  not  pennitted  to  return  lest  the  intended 
attack  on  Baltimore  should  be  disclosed.  He  was  therefore  brought  up  the  bay 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Patapsco,  where  the  flag  vessel  was  kept  under  the  guns  of  a 
frigate,  and  he  was  compelled  to  witness  the  bombardment  of  Fort  McHenry, 
which 'the  admiral  liad  boasted  that  he  would  carry  in  a  few  hours,  and  that  the 
city  must  fall.  He  watched  the  flag  at  the  fort  through  the  whole  day  vnth.  an 
anxiety  that  can  be  better  felt  than  described,  until  the  night  prevented  hun  from 
seeing  it.  In  the  night  he  watched  the  bombshells,  and  at  early  dawn  his  eye 
was  again  greeted  by  the  proudly  waving  flag  of  his  country. 

24115°— 14 5  ^ 


66  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

This  account  is  followed  by  the  text  of  Key's  poem  without  special 
title,  but  with  the  indication:  "Tune:  Anacreon  in  Heaven."  (See 
Appendix,  Plate  XIII.)  One  day  later  the  Baltimore  American 
printed  the  same  historical  account,  with  text  of  Key's  poem  and 
indication  of  the  tune,  but  without  the  so  curiously  prophetic  remarks 
of  the  editor  and  without  any  allusion  to  previous  extensive  cir- 
culation of  account  and  text." 

As  this  account  was  printed  almost  immediately  after  the  events 
therein  described  took  place,  and  were  in  every  reader's  memory,  the 
newspaper  editors,  of  course,  omitted  specific  dates,  but  it  is  a  matter 
of  history  that  the  gallant  defense  of  Fort  McHenry  under  Maj. 
Armistead  began  on  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  September  13,  and 
lasted  until  the  early  hours  of  September  14,  1814.  The  gentleman 
is,  of  course,  Francis  Scott  Key,  and  either  his  own  modesty  or  an 
editorial  whim  kept  his  authorship  from  the  pubHc. 

The  first  detailed  and  authentic  account  of  the  origin  of  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner"  practically  came  from  Francis  Scott  Key  himself, 
who  narrated  it  shortly  after  the  British  designs  on  Baltimore  failed, 
to  his  brother-in-law,  ilr.  R.  B.  Taney,  subsequently  Chief  Justice  of 
our  Supreme  Court.  When  in  1856  Mr.  Henry  V.  D.  Jones  edited 
the  "Poems  of  the  Late  Francis  S.  Key,  Esq.  .  .  ."  (New  York,  1857), 
Chief  Justice  Taney  contributed  Key's  version  from  memory,  in  an 
introductory  "letter  .  .  .  narrating  the  incidents  connected  with  the 
origin  of  the  song  'The  Star-Spangled  Banner.'"  This  interesting 
narrative  has  been  made  the  basis  of  all  subsequent  accounts.  Its 
substance  is  this:  When,  after  the  battle  of  Bladensburg,  the  main 
body  of  the  British  army  had  passed  through  the  town  of  Upper 
Marlborough,  some  stragglers,  who  had  left  the  ranks  to  plunder  or 
from  some  other  motive,  made  their  appearance  from  time  to  time, 
singly  or  in  small  squads,  and  a  Dr.  Beanes,  who  had  previously 
been  very  hospitable  to  the  British  officers,  "put  himself  at  the  head 
of  a  smaU  body  of  citizens  to  pursue  and  make  prisoners"  of  the 
stragglers.  Information  of  this  proceeding  reached  the  British  and 
Dr.  Beanes  was  promptly  seized.  The  British  "did  not  seem  to 
regard  him,  and  certainly  did  not  treat  him,  as  a  prisoner  of  war, 
but  as  one  who  had  deceived  and  broken  his  faith  to  them."  Dr. 
Beanes  was  the  leading  physician  of  his  town  and  so  highly  respected 
that  the  news  of  his  imprisonment  fiUed  his  friends  with  alarm.    They 

o  Mr.  Da\-id  E.  Roberts,  of  the  Library'  of  Congress,  had  the  kindness  to  verify  for 
me  the  following  facts:  The  last  issue  of  the  Baltimore  American  (publishers,  "W. 
Pechin,  G.  Dobbin,  and  Murphy)  before  suspension  was  on  September  10,  1814,  -with 
No.  4762.  The  first  issue  after  suspension  appeared  on  September  20,  1814,  as  No. 
4766,  but  this  number  of  September  20,  1814,  did  not  contain  Key's  poem.  The 
Baltimore  American  printed  it  on  September  21,  1814,  but  not  before.  By  courtesy 
of  the  Mar^iand  Historical  Society  a  facsimile  of  the  Baltimore  American  text  appears 
in  the  appendix  as  Plate  XIV. 


"The    Star    Spangled    Banner"  67 

"hastened  to  the  headquarters  of  the  English  army  to  solicit  liis 
release,  but  it  was  peremptorily  refused,"  and  they  were  informed 
that  he  had  been  carried  as  a  prisoner  on  board  the  fleet.  Francis 
Scott  Key  happened  also  to  be  one  of  the  doctor's  intimate  friends, 
and  as  ^Mr.  Key,  just  then  a  volunteer  in  Maj.  Peter's  Light  Artil- 
lery, but  a  lawyer  by  profession,  was  a  resident  of  Georgetown,  which 
means  practically  Washington,  the  other  friends  requested  him — 

to  obtain  the  sanction  of  the  Government  to  liis  going  on  board  the  admiral's  ship 
under  a  flag  of  truce  and  endeavoring  to  prociu:e  the  release  of  Dr.  Beanes,  before 
the  fleet  sailed. 

.  .  .  Mr.  Key  readily  agreed  to  undertake  the  mission  in  Ms  favor,  and  the  Presi- 
dent [Madison]  promptly  gave  his  sanction  to  it.  Orders  were  immediately  issued 
to  the  vessel  usually  employed  as  a  cartel  [the  Minden]  in  the  communications 
with  the  fleet  in  the  Chesapeake  to  be  made  ready  without  delay;  and  Mr.  John  S. 
Skinner,  who  was  agent  for  the  Government  for  flags  of  truce  and  excliange  of  pris- 
oners, and  who  was  well  known  as  such  to  the  officers  of  the  fleet,  was  directed  to 
accompany  Mr.  Key.  And  as  soon  as  the  arrangements  were  made,  he  hastened 
to  Baltimore,  where  the  vessel  was,  to  embark;  .  .  . 

We  heard  nothing  from  him  until  the  enemy  retreated  from  Baltimore,  which, 
as  well  aa  I  can  now  recollect,  was  a  week  or  ten  days  after  he  left  us;  and  we  were 
becoming  uneasy  about  him  when,  to  our  great  joy,  he  made  his  appearance  at  my 
house,  on  his  way  to  join  his  family. 

He  told  me  that  he  found  the  British  fleet  at  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac,  pre- 
paring for  the  expedition  against  Baltimore.  He  was  comteously  received  by 
Admiral  Cochrane  and  the  officers  of  the  army,  as  well  as  the  navy.  But  when 
he  made  known  his  business  his  application  was  received  so  coldly  tliat  he  feared 
he  would  fail.  General  Ross  and  Admiral  Cockburn— who  accompanied  the  expe- 
dition to  Washington — particularly  the  latter,  spoke  of  Dr.  Beanes  in  very  liarsh 
terms,  and  seemed  at  first  not  disposed  to  release  him.  It,  however,  happened, 
fortunately,  that  Mr.  Skinner  carried  letters  from  the  wounded  British  officers  left 
at  Bladensburg,  and  in  these  letters  to  their  friends  on  board  the  fleet  they  all 
spoke  of  the  humanity  and  kindness  with  which  they  had  been  treated  after  they 
•  had  fallen  into  our  hands.  And  after  a  good  deal  of  conversation  and  strong  repre- 
sentations from  Mr.  Key  as  to  the  character  and  standing  of  Dr.  Beanes,  and  of  the 
deep  interest  which  the  community  in  wliich  he  lived  took  in  liis  fate,  Gen.  Ross 
said  that  Dr.  Beanes  deserved  much  more  punishment  than  he  had  received; 
but  that  he  felt  himself  bound  to  make  a  return  for  the  kindness  wluch  had  been 
shown  to  his  wounded  officers,  whom  he  had  been  compelled  to  leave  at  Bladens- 
burg; and  upon  that  ground,  and  that  only,  he  would  release  him.  But  Mr.  Key 
was  at  the  same  time  informed  that  neither  he,  nor  any  one  else,  would  be  per- 
mitted to  leave  the  fleet  for  some  days,  and  must  be  detained  until  the  attack  on 
Baltimore,  wliich  was  then  about  to  be  made,  was  over.  But  he  was  assured  that 
they  would  make  liim  and  Mr.  Skinner  as  comfortable  as  possible  while  they 
detained  him.  Admiral  Coclirane,  with  whom  they  dined  on  tlie  day  of  their 
arrival,  apoligized  for  not  accommodating  them  on  Ids  own  ship,  saying  that  it 
was  crowded  already  with  officers  of  the  army,  but  tliat  they  would  be  well  taken 
care  of  in  the  frigate  Surprise,  commanded  by  liis  son,  Sir  Tliomaa  Coclirane. 
And  to  this  frigate  they  were  accordingly  transferred. 

Mr.  Key  liad  an  interview  with  Dr.  Beanes  before  General  Ross  consented  to 
release  him.  I  do  not  recollect  whether  he  was  on  board  the  admiral's  sliip  or 
the  Surprise,  but  I  believe  it  was  the  former.  He  found  liim  in  the  forward  part 
of  the  ship,  among  the  sailors  and  soldiers;  he  had  not  had  a  change  of  clothes 


"The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

from  the  time  he  waa  seized;  was  constantly  treated  with  indignity  by  those 
around  him,  and  no  officer  would  speak  to  him.  He  waa  treated  as  a  culprit, 
and  not  as  a  prisoner  of  war.  And  this  harsh  and  humiliating  treatment  con- 
tinued until  he  was  placed  on  board  the  cartel. 

Mr.  Key  and  Mr.  Skinner  continued  on  board  of  the  Surprise,  where  they  were 
very  kindly  treated  by  Sir  Thomas  Cochrane,  until  the  fleet  reached  the  Patapsco, 
and  preparations  were  making  for  landing  the  troops.  Admiral  Cochrane  then 
shifted  his  flags  to  the  frigate,  in  order  that  he  might  be  able  to  move  farther  up 
the  river,  and  superintend  in  person,  the  attack  by  water,  on  the  fort.  And  Mr. 
Key  and  Mr.  Skinner  were  then  sent  on  board  their  own  vessel,  with  a  guard  of 
sailors,  or  marines,  to  prevent  them  from  landing.  They  were  permitted  to  take 
Dr.  Beanes  with  them  and  they  thought  themselves  fortunate  in  being  anchored 
in  a  position  which  enabled  them  to  see  distinctly  the  flag  of  Fort  McHenry  from 
the  deck  of  the  vessel.  He  proceeded  then  with  much  animation  to  describe  the 
scene  on  the  night  of  the  bombardment.  He  and  Mr.  Skinner  remained  on  deck 
during  the  night,  watching  every  shell,  from  the  moment  it  was  fired,  until  it  fell, 
listening  with  breathless  interest  to  hear  if  an  explosion  followed .  While  the  bom- 
bardment continued ,  it  was  sufficient  proof  that  the  fort  had  not  surrendered .  But 
it  suddenly  ceased  some  time  before  day;  and  as  they  had  no  communication  with 
any  of  the  enemy's  ships,  they  did  not  know  whether  the  fort  had  surrendered,  or 
the  attack  upon  it  been  abandoned.  They  paced  the  deck  for  the  residue  of  the 
night  in  painful  suspense,  watching  with  intense  anxiety  for  the  return  of  day,  and 
looking  every  few  minutes  at  their  watches,  to  see  how  long  they  must  wait  for  it; 
and  as  soon  as  it  dawned,  and  before  it  was  light  enough  to  see  objects  at  a  distance, 
their  glasses  were  turned  to  the  fort,  uncertain  whether  they  shoiild  see  there  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  or  the  flag  of  the  enemy.  At  length  the  light  came,  and  they  saw 
that  "our  flag  was  still  there."  And  as  the  day  advanced,  they  discovered,  from 
the  movements  of  the  boats  between  the  shore  and  the  fleet,  that  the  troops  had 
been  roughly  handled,  and  that  many  woiinded  men  were  carried  to  the  ships.  At 
length  he  waa  informed  that  the  attack  on  Baltimore  had  failed,  and  the  British 
army  was  reembarking,  and  that  he  and  Mr.  Skinner,  and  Dr.  Beanes  would  be 
permitted  to  leave  them,  and  go  where  they  pleased,  as  soon  as  the  troops  were  on 
board,  and  the  fleet  ready  to  sail. 

He  then  told  me  that,  under  the  excitement  of  the  time,  he  had  written  a  song, 
and  handed  me  a  printed  copy  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner."  When  I  had 
read  it,  and  expressed  my  admiration,  I  asked  him  how  he  found  time,  in  the 
scenes  he  had  been  passing  through,  to  compose  such  a  song?  He  said  he  com- 
menced it  on  the  deck  of  their  vessel,  in  the  fervor  of  the  moment,  when  he  saw 
the  enemy  hastily  retreating  to  their  ships,  and  looked  at  the  flag  he  had  watched 
for  BO  anxiously  as  the  morning  opened;  that  he  had  written  some  lines,  or  brief 
notes  that  would  aid  him  in  calling  them  to  mind,  upon  the  back  cf  a  letter  which 
he  happened  to  have  in  his  pocket;  and  for  some  of  the  lines,  as  he  proceeded, 
he  was  obliged  to  rely  altogether  on  his  memory;  and  that  he  finished  it  in  the 
boat  on  his  way  to  the  shore,  and  wrote  it  out  as  it  now  stands,  at  the  hotel,  on 
the  night  he  reached  Baltimore,  and  immediately  after  he  arrived.  He  said 
that  on  the  next  morning,  he  took  it  to  Judge  Nicholson,  to  ask  him  what  he 
thought  of  it,  that  he  was  so  much  pleased  with  it,  that  he  immediately  sent 
it  to  a  printer,  and  directed  copies  to  be  struck  off  in  hand-bill  form;  and  that  he, 
Mr.  Key,  believed  it  to  have  been  favorably  received  by  the  Baltimore  public. 

Judge  Nicholson  and  Mr.  Key,  you  know,  were  nearly  connected  by  marriage, 
Mrs.  Key  and  Mrs.  Nicholson  being  sisters.  The  judge  was  a  man  of  cultivated 
taste,  had  at  one  time  been  distinguished  among  the  leading  men  in  Congress, 
and  waa  at  the  period  of  which  I  am  speaking  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Baltimore, 


''The   Star   Spangled   Banner"  69 

and  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  of  Maryland .     Notwithstanding  his 
judicial  character,  which  exempted  him  from  military  service,  he  accepted  the 
command  of  a  volunteer  company  of  artillery.     And  when  the  enemy  approached, 
and  an  attack  on  the  fort  was  expected,  he  and  his  company  offered  their  serv- 
ices to  the  Government,  to  assist  in  its  defence.    They  were  accepted,  and  formed 
a  part  of  the  garrison,  during  the  bombardment.     The  Judge  had  been  relieved 
from  duty,  and  returned  to  his  family  only  the  night  before  Mr.  Key  showed 
him  his  song.     And  you  may  easily  imagine  the  feelings  with  which,  at  such 
a  moment,  he  read  it,  and  gave  it  to  the  public.     It  was,  no  doubt,  as  Mr.  Key 
modestly  expressed  it,  favorably  received.     In  less  than  an  hour  aft^r  it  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  printer,  it  ^vas  all  over  totm,  and  hailed  with  enthusiasm, 
and  took  its  place  at  once  as  a  national  song     .  .  fi 
More  than  40  years  had  elapsed  since  Chief  Justice  Taney  had 
heard  this  story  for  the  first  time  from  Francis  Scott  Key,   and 
though  it  probably  was  modified  or  embellished  in  course  of  time,  yet 
in  substance  it  has  the  earmarks  of  authenticity.     Exactly  for  this 
reason,  if  for  no  other,  Chief  Justice  Taney's  account  furnished  the 
foundation  for  all  further  accounts,  but  it  should  be  noticed  that  the 
Chief  Justice  does  not  tell  us  anything  beyond  how  the  words  came 
to  be  written,  until  struck  off  in  handbill  form.     We  do  not  learn 
when   and  under  what  circumstances  the  broadside  was  printed, 
how  the  poem  was  wedded  to  its  music,  or  when  and  by  whom  the 
song  was  first  read  or  sung.     If  certain  waiters  do  include  such  state- 
ments in  their  quotations  from  Taney's  account,  they  certainly  did 
not  read  Taney's  introductory  letter,   but  most  probably  copied 
then-  quotations  from  Admiral  Preble,  who  indeed  but  carelessly 
attributes  such  statements  to  the  Chief  Justice.     The  data  not  con- 
tained in  Taney's  account  had  to  be  supplied  by  others,  and  it  is 
very  curious  that  instantly  this  part  of  the  historv'  of  "The  Star-Span- 
gled   Banner"    became    confused,    whereas    Chief   Justice   Taney's 
account  remained  unchallenged  except  in  unimportant  points,   as 
for  instance,  the  reasons  for  Dr.  Beanes's  arrest.     Under  this  head 
Chief  Justice  Taney  was  rather  vague;  not  so  Mrs.  Anna  H.  Dorsey, 
who   in   the  Washington   Sunday  Morning  Clironiclo   added   some 
"lesser  facts,"  which  were  reprinted  in  Dawson's  Historical  Maga- 
zine,  1861,  volume  5,  pages  282-283.     According  to  Mrs.  Dorsey, 
Dr    William  Beanes,  the  uncle  of  her  mother,  was  celebratmg  vni\v 
copious   libations   a  rumored   British  defeat   at    Washington  when 
"three  foot-sore,  dusty,  and  weary  soldiers  made  their  appearance 
on  the  scene  in  quest  of  water."     Somewhat  under  the  mfiuence  of 
the  excellent  punch,  Dr.  Beanes  and  his  friends  made  them  pris- 

a  Had  Chief  Justice  Taney  foreseen  how  eaf<ily  his  words  here  printed  in  italics  lent 
themselves  to  uncritical  repetition  and  paraphrase,  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  would 
have  used  more  conservative  language  to  express  his  thought  and  not  those  words 
which  involve  an  absolute  physical  impoeaibility,  and  the  la«t  words  an  hHtorical 
impossibility. 


70  "The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

oners  of  war,  and  very  naturally,  the  British  resented  this,  to  say 
the  least,  indiscreet  act.  This  Beanes-Dorsey  family  tradition  is 
given  here  for  all  it  is  worth,  but  if  correct,  then  it  would  be  a  singular 
coincidence  that  an  English  drinking  song  called  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven"  furnished  the  melody  for  a  poem  which  had  its  root  in 
an  event  inspired  by  Bacchus.  Indeed  Dr.  Beanes  and  his  friends 
might  have  been  voicing  their  sentiments  "  to  Anacreon  in  Heaven." 

Different  is  the  account  written  by  Mr.  F.  S.  Key  Smith  for  the 
Republic  Magazine,  1908,  April,  pages  10-20,  on  "Fort  McHenry 
and  the  Star-Spangled  Banner."  According  to  Mr.  Smith,  a  party 
of  maraudmg  stragglers  came  into  the  doctor's  garden  and  intruded 
themselves  upon  him  and  his  little  company.  "Elated  over  their 
supposed  victor}'  of  the  day  previous,  of  which  the  Doctor  and  his 
friends  had  heard  nothing,"  says  Mr.  Smith,  "they  were  boisterous, 
disorderly,  and  insolent,  and  upon  being  ordered  to  leave  the  prem- 
ises became  threatening.  Whereupon,  at  the  instance  of  Doctor 
Beanes  and  his  friends,  they  were  arrested  by  the  town  authorities 
and  lodged  in  the  Marlborough  jail." 

This  version,  too,  is  quoted  here  for  all  it  is  worth;  but  it  should 
be  noted  that  throughout  this  article,  dealing  elaborately  only  with 
the  political  history  of  Key's  poem,  Mr.  Smith  is  conspicuously  silent 
about  his  authorities,  thus  preventing  critical  readers  from  accepting 
his  statements  without  skepticism.  A  case  in  point  is  his  continua- 
tion of  Chief  Justice  Taney's  narrative: 

He  [Judge  Nicholson,  also  Key's  brother-in-law]  took  it  [what  Mr.  Smith  calls 
"the  first  complete  draft  of  the  song"]  to  the  printing  office  of  Captain  Benjamin 
Edes  on  North  Street  near  the  comer  of  Baltimore  street,  but  the  Captain  not 
ha\dng  returned  from  duty  with  the  Twenty-Sixth  Maryland  Regiment,  his  oflBce 
was  closed,  and  Judge  Nicholson  proceeded  to  the  newspaper  office  of  the  Balti- 
more American  and  Commercial  Daily  Advertiser,  where  the  words  were  set  in 
type  by  Samuel  Sands,  an  apprentice  at  the  time,  but  who  in  later  life  became 
associated  with  Colonel  Skinner  in  the  editing  and  publishing  of  the  American 
Farmer,  the  first  agricultural  paper  published  in  the  United  States  and  possibly 
in  the  world.  Copies  of  the  song  were  struck  off  in  handbUl  form,  and  promis- 
cously  distributed  on  the  street.  Catching  with  popular  favor  like  prairie  fire  it 
spread  in  every  direction,  was  read  and  discussed,  until,  in  less  than  an  hour, 
the  news  was  all  over  the  city.  Picked  up  by  a  crowd  assembled  about  Captain 
McCauley's  tavern,  next  to  the  Holliday  Street  Theater,  where  two  brothers  Charles 
and  Ferdinand  Durang,  musicians  and  actors,  were  stopping,  the  latter  mounted  a 
chair,  and  rendered  it  in  fine  style  to  a  large  assemblage. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  that  Mr.  Charles  [!!]  Durang  first  sang  "  The  Star 
Spangled  Banner,"  it  was  again  rendered  upon  the  stage  of  the  Holliday  Street  Theater 
by  an  actress,  and  the  theater  is  said  to  have  gained  thereby  a  national  reputation. 
In  less  than  a  week  it  had  reached  New  Orleans  [!]  and  was  publicly  played  by  a 
military  band,  and  shortly  thereafter  was  heard  in  nearly,  if  not  all,  the  principal 
cities  and  towns  throughout  the  country  .  .  . 

On  March  28,  1911,  Mr.  Smith  pubUshed  an  attractive  book  under 
the  title  "Francis  Scott  Key.     Author  of  the  Star  Spangled  Banner, 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  71 

"What  else  he  was  and  who.  By  F.  S.  Key-Smith,  Esq."  Again  Mr. 
Smith  was  conspicuously  silent  about  his  authorities  in  the  matter 
of  the  disputed  points  here  under  discussion,  but  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  ^Ir.  Smith  quietly  changed  the  words  itaUcized  by  me  above 
hi  the  quotation  from  ^Mr.  Smith's  article  of  1908  to  read,  \\dth  addi- 
tions and  omissions,  in  his  book  of  1911,  as  follows: 

Picked  up  by  a  crowd  of  soldiers  assembled,  some  accounts  put  it  about  Captain 
McCauley's  tavern,  next  to  the  Holiday-Street  Theater  others  have  it  around  their 
tents  on  the  out-skirts  of  the  city  [NB.  the  omission],  Ferdinand  Durang,  a  musi- 
cian, adapted  the  words  to  the  old  tune  of  "  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  and,  mounting 
a  chair,  rendered  it  in  fine  style.     [NB.  the  omission] 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  [NB.  the  omission]  it  was  again  rendered  .  .  . 
[same  as  in  1908]  In  about  a  fortnight  [N.  B.  the  difference]  it  had  reached  New 
Orleans  .  .  .  [same  as  in  1908] 

Inconsistencies  Uke  these  illustrate  glaringly  the  necessity  of 
reference  in  historical  work  to  the  author's  sources,  whether  they  be 
original  manuscripts  in  his  possession  or  what  not.  Such  references 
can  be  made  even  in  magazine  articles  unobtrusively,  with  just  a 
modicum  of  literary  skiU,  and  without  the  cumbersome  apparatus  of 
legal  articles.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  would-be  historian  to  record  his 
"authorities"  of  his  own  accord  and  in  the  j^roper  place,  and  not  to 
wait  for  the  critics  to  ring  his  door  bell.  Otherwise,  the  absence  of 
**  authorities"  from  disputed  points  of  historical  narrative  will  prompt 
even  an  impartially  inclined  but  sceptical  reviewer  to  call  accounts 
like  the  above  "merely  the  hastily  concocted  and  uncritically  diluted 
essence  of  previous  articles,  including  that  by  Taney,"  as  I  did  in  my 
' '  Report "  of  1909.  To  this  severe  criticism  Mr.  Smith  quite  naturally 
took  offence  in  letters  addressed  to  me  and  to  the  Librarian  of  Con- 
gress on  March  3,  1911,  claiming  that  liis  account  had  been  based  on 
an  "original  manuscript  in  his  possession,"  the  nature  of  which  ^Mr. 
Smith  disclosed  neither  in  his  letters  nor  in  his  book.  Notwith- 
standing this  "original  manuscript,"  ^Ir.  Smith,  as  is  shown  above, 
found  himseK  obUged  in  his  book  of  1911  to  contradict  his  article  of 
1908  as  soon  as  he  reached  the  points  here  under  discussion.  The 
more  reason,  it  would  seem  to  me,  to  have  disclosed  unasked  the 
nature  and  authenticity  of  this  manuscript.  Moreover,  in  itself,  no 
"origmal  manuscript"  has  any  standing  in  a  court  of  historical 
inquiry,  unless  the  contents  of  the  manuscript  successfully  resist 
critical  pressure. 

To  his  article  of  1908,  so  far  as  it  concerns  us  here,  Mr.  Smith  added 
a  quotation  from  the  same  letter  by  wSamuel  Sands,  which  will  be 
presently  quoted  by  me,  some  remarks  about  the  flag  that  inspired 
Francis  Scott  Key  and  this  reference  to  the  "Report"  of  1909: 

The  accuracy  of  the  version  herein  given  of  the  arrest  of  Dr.  Beans,  as  well  as 
the  statements  that  Samuel  Sands  first  set  the  words  of  the  Star  Spangled  Banner 
in  type,  seems  to  be  questioned    by  Oscar   George  Theodore  Sonneck  ...  It 


72  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

would  appear  that  he  prefers  to  accept  the  verBion  .  .  .  [follows  the  Beans- 
Dorsey  family  tradition,  with  comment]  ...  As  for  the  statement  that  Mr. 
Sands  first  set  the  song  in  t>-pe,  his  own  letter,  herein  published  ...  is  a  suf- 
ficient justification  and,  it  is  submitted,  better  evidence  than  the  claims  of 
friends  and  descendants  of  others  anxious  to  gain  some  share  in  the  honor  con- 
nected with  writing  and  publishing  the  National  Anthem.  It  is  most  unfortunate 
that  such  errors  should  appear  in  a  publication  bearing  the  official  stamp  of  our 
Government . 

From  ''seems  to  be  questioned"  to  "such  errors"  is  a  rather  abrupt 
step.  Mr.  Smith  is  challenged  to  point  out  a  single  statement  in  the 
"Report"  of  1909  which  would  justify  him  in  claiming  that  I  favored 
one  version  of  the  Dr.  Beans  episode  as  against  the  others.  He  is 
further  challenged  to  point  out  where  I  questioned  the  accuracy  of 
the  statement  that  Samuel  Sands  first  set  the  words  of  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner"  in  type."  Finally,  it  may  interest  Mr.  Smith  to 
know,  as  it  may  others,  that  the  United  States  officially  is  still  without 
a  national  anthem.  True,  the  Army  and  ]Savy  use  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner"  officially.  True,  also,  that  the  majority  of  our 
people  seem  to  favor  and  to  use  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  on 
patriotic  occasions;  but  it  is  also  true  that  as  yet,  at  the  date  of  writing, 
the  United  States  has  not  officially,  through  its  Representatives  in 
Congress,  designated  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  or  any  other  of  our 
national  songs  as  '^the  national  anthem."  ^ 

In  the  following  no  attempt  will  be  made  to  dissect  or  even  pay 
much  attention  to  the  second-hand  compilations  from  original  sources, 
no  matter  how  spirited  or  otherwise  attractive  they  may  be. 

One  C.  D.,  in  the  Historical  Magazine  of  1864,  volume  8,  pages  347- 
348,  has  this  to  say: 

One  of  your  correspondents  inquires  in  what  form  the  song  of  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner  was  first  printed.  I  think  that  in  the  History  of  the  Philadelphia  Stage 
you  will  find  that  subject  clearly  explained.     The  song  was  first  printed  and  put 

a  On  p.  29-31  of  my  "Report"  (now  p.  85-88)  I  refuted  Preble's  assumption  that 
Samuel  Sands  set  the  elaborate  broadside  fac-similed  by  Dielman,  therewith  proving 
that  it  was  the  other  broadside  which  Sands  set  up  in  type.  Mr.  Smith  apparently 
did  not  notice  this  distinction. 

?>  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  January  30,  1913,  Mr.  Jefferson  M.  Levy  intro- 
duced the  following  joint  resolution  [H.  J.  Res.  391,  62d  Congress,  3d  Session];  which 
was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  and  ordered  to  be  printed: 

Joint  resolution  recognizing  "The  Star- Spangled  Banner"  as  the  official  anthem  of  the  United  States  of 

America. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled. 
That  on  and  after  the  passage  of  this  resolution  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  shall  be  recognized  as  the 
oflBcial  anthem  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

Sec.  2.  Thatwhenever  "  The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  is  played  on  any  occasionat  any  public  place  where 
persons  belonging  to  any  branch  of  the  Government  sarvice  are  present  they  will  stand  at  attention,  and 
all  other  citizens  wDl  stand,  such  positions  being  retained  until  the  last  note  of  " The  Star-Spangled 
Banner." 

The  clerk  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  informed  us  on  November  13,  1913,  and  again 
on  March  18,  1914,  that  no  further  action  had  been  taken. 


''The    Star    Spangled    Banner"  73 

upon  the  press  by  Captain  Edes,  of  Baltimore,  who  belonged  to  Colonel  Long's 
Twenty-seventh  Regiment  of  militia.  He  kept  his  printing  office  at  the  corner 
of  Baltimore  and  Gay  Streets.  It  was  given  him  by  the  author,  Mr.  Key,  of 
Washington,  in  its  amended  form,  after  the  battle  of  North  Point,  about  the 
latter  end  of  September,  1814.  Tlie  original  draft,  with  its  interlineations  and 
amendatory  erasures,  etc.,  was  purchased  by  the  late  Gen.  George  Keim,  of 
Reading,  and  I  suppose  his  heirs  have  it  now.  It  was  printed  on  a  small  piece 
of  paper  in  the  style  of  our  old  ballads  that  were  wont  to  be  hawked  about  the 
streets  in  days  of  yore.  It  was  first  sung  by  about  twenty  volunteer  soldiers  in 
front  of  the  Holliday  Street  Theater,  who  used  to  congregate  at  the  adjoining 
tavern  to  get  their  early  mint  juleps.  Ben.  Edes  brought  it  round  to  them  on 
one  of  those  libating  mornings  or  matinees.  I  was  one  of  the  group.  My  brother 
sang  it.     We  all  formed  the  chorus.     This  is  its  history  .     .     . 

The  reference  to  the  History  of  the  Philadelphia  Stage  and  to 
"my  brother"  immediately  implies  the  identity  of  this  C.  D.  with 
Charles  Durang,  brother  of  Ferdinand  Durang  (both  actors),  and 
joint  author,  or,  rather,  editor,  of  his  father  John's  History  of  the 
Philadelphia  Stage,  published  serially  in  the  Philadelphia  Sunday 
Dispatch,  1854-55.  Consequently  we  have  here  the  (unfortunately 
not  very  accurate)  testimony  of  a  contemporary  earwitness.  A 
few  years  later,  in  1867,  Col.  John  L.  Warner  read  before  the  Penn- 
sylvania Historical  Society  a  paper  on  "The  origin  of  the  American 
national  anthem  called  The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  and  this  paper 
was  printed  in  the  Historical  Magazine,  1867,  Volume  II,  pages 
279-280,  As  will  be  seen  from  the  following  quotation,  it  does  not 
contradict  Charles  Durang's  account,  but  merely  supplements  it. 
Says  Col.  Warner: 

It  was  first  sung  when  fresh  from  his  [Capt.  Benjamin  Edes!]  press,  at  a  small 
frame  one-story  house,  occupied  as  a  tavern  next  to  the  Iloliday  Street  Theatre. 

This  tavern  had  long  been  kept  by  the  widow  Berling,  and  then  by  a  Col. 
MacConkey,  a  house  where  the  players  "most  did  congregate,"  with  the  quid 
nuncs  of  that  day,  to  do  honor  to,  and  to  prepare  for,  the  daily  military  drills  in 
Gay  Street  (for  every  able  man  was  then  a  soldier);  and  here  came,  also,  Capt. 
Benjamin  Edes,  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Regiment;  Captain  Long  and  Captain 
Thomas  Warner,  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Regiment;  and  Major  Frailey.  Warner  was 
a  silversmith  of  good  repute  in  that  neighborhood. 

It  was  the  latter  end  of  September,  1814,  when  a  lot  of  the  young  volunteer 
defenders  of  the  Monumental  City  were  thus  assembled.  Captain  Edes  and  Cap- 
tain Thomas  Warner  came  early  along  one  morning  and  forthwith  called  the  group 
(quite  merry  with  the  British  defeat)  to  order,  to  listen  to  a  patriotic  song  wliich 
the  former  had  just  struck  off  at  his  press.  He  then  read  it  to  all  the  young 
volunteers  there  assembled,  who  greeted  each  verse  with  hearty  shouts.  It  was 
then  suggested  that  it  should  be  sung;  but  who  was  able  to  sing  it?  Ferdinand 
Durang,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  cause  and  known  to  ])e  a  Aocalist,  being  among 
the  group,  was  a.ssigned  the  task  of  vocalising  this  truly  inspired  patriotic  hymn 
of  the  lamented  Key.  The  old  air  of  "Anacreon  in  Heaven"  had  been  adapted 
to  it  by  the  author,  and  Mr.  Edes  was  desired  so  to  print  it  on  the  top  of  the  ballad. 

Its  solemn  melody  and  impressive  notes  seem  naturally  allied  to  the  poetry, 
and  speak  emphatically  the  musical  taste  and  judgment  of  Mr.  Key.  Ferdinand 
Durang  mounted  an  old-fashioned  rush-bottomed  chair,  and  sang  this  admirable 


74  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner '* 

national  song  for  the  first  time  in  our  Union,  the  chorus  to  each  verse  being  re- 
echoed by  those  present  with  infinite  harmony  of  voices.  It  was  thus  sung 
several  times  during  the  morning.  When  the  theater  was  opened  by  Warren 
and  Wood,  it  was  sung  nightly,  after  the  play,  by  Paddy  McFarland  and  the 
company. 

So  far  the  historian  would  have  plain  sailing,  but  his  troubles  begin 
with  an  article  written  for  Harper's  Magazine,  1871,  volume  43,  pages 
254-258,  by  IVirs.  Nellie  Eyster,  as  appears  from  the  printed  index. 
Under  the  title  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner:  An  hour  with  an 
octogenarian,"  she  reports  an  interview  held  on  November  20,  1870, 
with  Mr.  Hendon,  of  Frederick,  Md.,  who  knew  Francis  Scott  Key 
personally  as  a  boy  and  who  moved  in  1809  to  Lancaster,  Pa.,  whence 
hoth.  the  Durangs  hailed.  Together  with  Charles  and  Ferdinand 
Durang  he  belonged  to  the  Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Militia,  which  on 
August  1,  1814,  left  Harrisburg  in  defense  of  Baltimore,  but,  remem- 
bers Mr,  Hendon,  they  "marched  to  the  seat  of  war  three  days  after 
the  battle  had  been  won,"  and  with  special  reference  to  the  defense  of 
Fort  McHenry  he  "was  chafing  like  a  caged  tiger  because  [he]  was  not 
in  it."  He  further  says  that  "  they  remained  upon  Gallows  Hill,  near 
Baltimore,  for  three  months,  daily  waiting  for  an  enemy  that  never 
came.  Then,  for  the  first  time  since  leaving  York  [Pa.],  [they]  took 
breathing  time  and  looked  about  for  amusement."  Follows  what 
Admiral  George  Henry  Preble  called  a  more  fanciful  version  than 
Warner's  account  when  he  copied  Mr.  Hendon's  words  for  a  foot- 
note (p.  494)  in  the  chapter  on  "Our  National  Songs"  (pp.  490-511) 
in  the  first  edition  (Albany,  1872)  of  his  industrious  and  popular 
compilation,  Our  Flag: 

"Have  you  heard  Francis  Key's  poem?"  said  one  of  our  men,  coming  in  one 
evening,  as  we  lay  scattered  over  the  green  hill  near  the  captain's  marquee.  It 
was  a  rude  copy,  and  written  in  a  scrawl  which  Horace  Greeley  might  have  mis- 
taken for  his  own.  He  read  it  aloud,  once,  twice,  three  times,  until  the  entire 
division  seemed  electrified  by  its  pathetic  eloquence. 

An  idea  seized  Ferd.  Durang.  Hunting  up  a  volume  of  flute  music,  which 
was  in  somebody's  tent,  he  impatiently  whistled  snatches  of  tune  after  tune, 
just  as  they  caught  his  quick  eye.  One,  called  "  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  (I  have 
played  it  often  for  it  was  in  my  book  that  he  found  it),  struck  his  fancy  and 
riveted  his  attention.  Note  after  note  fell  from  his  puckered  lips  until,  with  a 
leap  and  shout,  he  exclaimed  "Boys,  I've  hit  it!"  and  fitting  the  tune  to  the 
words,  they  sang  out  for  the  first  time  the  song  of  the  Star-Spangled  Banner. 
How  the  men  shouted  and  clapped,  for  never  was  there  a  wedding  of  poetry  to 
music  made  under  such  inspiring  influences!  Getting  a  brief  furlough,  the 
brothers  [!!]  sang  it  in  public  soon  after  .  .  . 

In  the  second  edition  of  his  work  (1880),  then  called  History  of 
the  Flag  of  the  United  States  of  America,  Admiral  Preble  reprinted 
this  fanciful  story,  together  with  the  Charles  Durang  and  Col.  Warner 
account,  but  again  without  the  slightest  attempt  at  critical  com- 
parison and  apparently  without  noticing  that  we  do  not  have  to 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  75 

deal  here  with  more  or  less  fanciful  differences,  but  with  reminiscent 
accounts  that  exclude  each  other.  What  subsequent  writers  con- 
tributed in  this  vein  to  the  literature  on  "The  Star-Spangled  Ban- 
ner" may  be  disregarded,  since  they  merely  paraphrased  with  more 
or  less  accuracy  what  they  found  in  Preble  or  in  his  sources,  as,  for 
instance,  when  one  writer  in  the  American  Historical  Record,  1873, 
volume  2,  pages  24-25,  carelessly  mentions  Charles  instead  of  Ferdi- 
nand Durang  as  the  first  singer  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner." 
However,  a  belated  version  with  fanciful  variations  of  the  main 
theme  should  be  noticed,  as  it  was  printed  some  time  in  1897  in  the 
Philadelphia  Ledger  and  from  there  reprinted  in  substance  in  the 
Iowa  Historical  Record,  July,  1897,  page  144.  According  to  this, 
"the  second  day  after  the  words  were  written,  Ferdinand  Durang 
was  rummaging  in  his  trunk  in  a  tavern  in  Baltimore,  where  he  had 
his  baggage,  for  music  to  suit  the  words,  and  finally  selected  that  of 
'Anacreon  in  Heaven.'  By  the  time  he  had  sung  the  third  verse,  in 
trying  the  music  to  the  words,  the  little  tavern  was  full  of  people, 
who  spontaneously  joined  in  the  chorus.  The  company  was  soon 
joined  by  the  author  of  the  words,  Francis  Scott  Key,  to  whom  the 
tune  was  submitted  for  approval,  who  also  took  up  the  refrain  of  the 
chorus,  thus  indorsing  the  music.  A  few  nights  afterward  'The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner'  being  called  for  by  the  audience  at  the  Holliday 
Street  Theater,  in  Baltimore,  Ferdinand  Durang  sang  it  from  the 
stage.  Durang  died  in  New  York  in  1832.  Durang  had  a  brother, 
Charles,  also  a  soldier  in  the  'Blues,'  who  was  likewise  an  actor,  who 
died  in  Philadelphia  in  1875.  .  .  ." 

That  to  Ferdinand  Durang  belongs  the  honor  of  having  first  sung 
Key's  poem  is  unanimously  asserted  (except  by  those  who  confuse 
him  with  his  brother  Charles),  but  it  remains  an  open  question  when 
and  where  he  might  so  have  done.  On  this  point  the  two  earwit- 
nesses,  Charles  Durang  and  Mr.  Hendon,  disagree.  Accordmg  to  the 
reminiscences  of  the  latter,  the  event  must  have  happened  at  least 
three  months  after  September  14  in  camp  on  Gallows  Hill  near  Bal- 
timore. Now,  it  has  already  been  mentioned  that  the  brief  account  of 
the  circumstances  leading  to  the  writing  of  Key's  poem  prmted  in 
the  Baltimore  Patriot  on  September  20,  preceded  the  full  text  of 
the  poem  under  the  heading  "Defence  of  Fort  M'Henry"  with  the 
remark  ''Tune:  Anacreon  in  Heaven."  It  may  be  that  Mr.  Hendon 
heard  Ferdinand  Durang  smg  the  hynm  in  camp  after  September  20, 
but  it  stands  to  reason  that  at  least  as  early  as  September  20  other 
vocally  inclined  readers  of  the  Baltimore  Patriot  enjoyed  the  com- 
bination of  Key's  "Defence  of  Fort  M'Henry,"  and  the  tune  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven."  If  we  possessed  no  other  contemporary  evi- 
dence, Ferdinand  Durang's  claims  would  rest  upon  very  shaky 
grounds  indeed,  nor  is  the  rest  of  Mr.  Hendon's  story  at  all  of  a  nature 


76  "The    Star    Spangled    Banner" 

as  to  inspire  reliance  upon  his  memory.  Mr,  Elson  in  his  ' '  National 
Music  of  America"  (p.  202)  bluntly  expressed  his  suspicion  to  the 
effect  that  "never  was  a  bolder  or  more  fantastical  claim  set  up  in 
musical  history,"  and  every  musician  will  agree  with  him  that  the 
"puckered  lips"  and  the  frantic  hunt  for  a  suitable  tune  in  a  volume 
of  flute  music  is  sheer  journalistic  nonsense,  which  verdict  applies 
also  to  the  Philadelphia  Ledger  account.  And  his  hunt  for  a  melody 
happened  three  months  after  the  tune,  with  which  the  words  were  to 
keep  company,  had  been  publicly  announced! 

The  suspicious  character  of  Mr.  Hendon's  long-distance  reminis- 
cences leaves  those  of  Charles  Durang  to  stand  on  their  own  merits, 
but  unfortunately  they  do  not  help  us  in  fixing  the  exact  date  of  the 
first  performance  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner."  Charles  Durang 
merely  remembered  having  been  one  of  the  chorus  when  his  brother 
Ferdinand  and  about  twenty  volunteer  soldiers  who  used  to  con- 
gregate at  the  adjoining  tavern  in  the  morning  first  sang  the  song 
after  Benj.  Edes  brought  it  round  to  them  on  oTie  of  those  libating 
mornings.  This  may  have  been  the  morning  of  September  15,  when 
Samuel  Sands,  the  apprentice,  is  popularly  supposed  to  have  set 
the  poem  as  a  broadside,  or  any  other  morning,  including  a  morning 
after  September  20,  when  the  poem  had  appeared  with  indication  of 
the  tune  in  the  Baltimore  Patriot,  Nor  is  Col.  Warner's  account, 
who  perhaps  was  a  descendant  of  Capt,  Thomas  Warner,  which  pos- 
sibility would  give  his  account  the  strength  of  a  family  tradition, 
more  expUcit  on  this  point.  At  this  tavern,  it  being  a  southern  Sep- 
tember morning,  may  mean  practically  the  same  as  in  Charles  Du- 
rang's  version,  in  front  of  the  adjoining  Holliday  Street  Theater. 
There  Capt.  Edes,  in  company  of  Capt.  Thomas  Warner,  is  said  to 
have  called  the  attention  of  the  group  of  volunteers  "to  a  patriotic 
song  which  [he]  had  just  struck  off  at  his  press,"  Consequently, 
neither  Durang  nor  Warner  substantiate  the  popular  version  that 
Ferdinand  Durang  sang  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  for  the  first 
time  on  September  15,  1814.  Nor  do  they  even  substantiate  the 
frequently  accepted  story  that  the  broadside  was  struck  off  Edes's 
press  [from  which  it  was  not  struck  off  at  all]  on  September  15! 
Indeed,  not  even  Key-Taney's  report:  "Judge  Nicholson  ,  .  .  im- 
mediately sent  it  [the  manuscript]  to  a  printer,  and  directed  copies 
to  be  struck  off  in  hand-bill  form,"  necessarily  impUes  the  conclusion 
that  they  were  struck  off  on  the  morning  of  September  15,  At  any 
rate,  the  story  that  Key's  poem  was  taken  to  a  printer,  set  as  a 
broadside,  distributed  about  town,  read,  discussed,  sung  with  great 
gusto,  etc,  and  all  this  on  the  morning  of  September  15,  1814,  belongs 
to  the  realm  of  unwholesome  historical  fiction! 

On  the  evening  of  September  15  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner," 
says  Mr,  F,  S.  Key  Smith,  was  "rendered  upon  the  stage  of  the 


"The   Star   Spangled   Banner"  77 

HoUiday  Street  Theater  by  an  actress."  Also  Ferdmand  Durang  is 
mentioned  in  this  connection  by  some  writers,  and  others  proffer 
other  names.  What  are  the  facts  ?  In  the  first  place,  the  suspicions 
of  the  historians  should  have  been  aroused  by  the  observation  that 
the  actor-manager.  Wood,  in  his  autobiography  does  not  mention 
any  theatrical  performances  at  Baltimore  in  September,  1814.  In 
the  second  place,  if  they  had  consulted  the  Baltimore  papers  of  that 
period,  such  as  the  Federal  Gazette,  Baltimore  Patriot,  Baltimore 
American — none  of  which  was  published,  by  the  way,  by  Benjamin 
Edes! — they  would  have  found  no  theatrical  performances  announced 
in  September,  1814,  at  all,  but  they  would  have  found  a  notice  in 
the  Federal  Gazette,  September  20,  to  the  effect  that  "about  600 
Pennsylvania  troops  arrived  yesterday,"  among  them  a  Lancaster 
company,  apparently  the  very  militia  troops  to  which  Ferdinand 
Durang  belonged.  Not  only  this,  the  historians  would  further  have 
found  from  the  same  source  that  the  theater  was  not  opened  until 
Odoher  12,  I8I4.  No  reference  to  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner" 
appears  in  the  announcements  of  this  evening  or  of  the  benefit  per- 
formance on  October  14  "to  aid  the  fund  for  the  defense  of  the 
city,"  unless  hidden  away  on  the  benefit  program  as  "a  patriotic 
epilogue  by  Mrs.  Mason."  On  this  evening  Ferdinand  Durang  did 
appear — dancing  a  "military  hornpipe."  With  a  little  patience  the 
historians  at  last  would  have  found  in  the  announcement  of  the' 
historical  play  "Count  Benyowski"  for  Wednesday  evening,  Octo- 
ber 19,  1814  (in  the  Baltimore  American  appears  October  15  as  a 
misprint),  the  following  lines,  which  at  last  shed  the  light  of  fact  on 
the  whole  matter : 

After  the  play,  Mr.  Harding  [the  Federal  Gazette  spells  the  name  Hardinge] 
will  sing  a  much  admired  Neiv  Song,  -written  by  a  gentleman  of  Maryland,  in 
commemoration  of  the  gallant  Defense  op  Fort  M'Henry,  called,  The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner.  .  .  . 

The  rather  immaterial  question  of  whether  or  not  and  when  and 
where  Ferdinand  Durang  possibly  sang  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner" 
for  the  first  time  leads  up  to  the  much  more  important  question: 
How  came  the  tune  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  and  no  other,  to  be 
wedded  to  Key's  poem?  Chief  Justice  Taney,  as  anybody  can  see 
and  as  all  should  have  seen  before  rushing  into  print  vnih  their 
stories,  is  absolute^  silent  on  this  point.  So  is  Charles  Durang. 
Col.  Warner  says: 

The  old  air  of  Anacreon  in  Ueaven  had  been  adapted  to  it  by  the  author,  and  Mr. 
Edes  was  desired  so  to  print  it  on  to  the  top  of  the  ballad. 

The  most  reliable  reports,  therefore,  do  not  mention  Ferdinand 
Durang  at  all  in  this  connection.  He  figures  as  musical  godfather 
to  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  in  the  journalistic  reports  only  and 
under    rather    suspicious    circumstances.     However,    there    exists 


78  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

another  and  different  version.  Mrs.  Rebecca  Lloyd  Shippen,  of 
Baltimore,  a  granddaughter  of  Judge  Joseph  Hopper  Nicholson  and 
a  greatniece  of  Francis  Scott  Key,  contributed  to  the  Pennsylvania 
Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  1901-2,  volume  25,  pages  427- 
428,  an  article  on  "The  original  manuscript  of  The  Star-Spangled 
Banner,"  of  which  more  will  have  to  be  said  further  on.  In  this 
article  we  read : 

Judge  Nicholson  wrote  a  little  piece  that  appears  at  the  heading  of  the  lines, 
above  which  he  also  wrote  the  name  of  the  tune  "Anacreon  in  Heaven" — a  tune 
which  Mrs.  Charles  Howard,  the  daughter  of  Francis  Scott  Key,  told  me  was  a 
common  one  at  that  day — and  Judge  Nicholson,  being  a  musician  among  his 
other  accomplishments  and  something  of  a  poet,  no  doubt  took  but  a  few  minutes 
to  see  that  the  lines  given  him  by  Francis  Scott  Key  could  be  simg  to  that  tune, 
and,  in  all  haste  to  give  the  lines  as  a  song  to  the  public,  he  thus  marked  it.  I 
possess  this  rare  original  manuscript,  kept  carefully  folded  by  his  wife,  Rebecca 
Lloyd  Nicholson,  and  taken  from  her  private  papers  by  myself  [Mrs.  Shippen] 
Eind  framed. 

Judge  Nicholson's  part  in  the  history  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Ban- 
ner" was  narrated  in  substantially  the  same  manner  in  editorial  foot- 
notes to  an  article  on  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner  "  written  by 
Mrs.  Shippen  for  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biog- 
raphy, 1898-99,  volume  22,  pages  321-325,  and  similar  to  Taney's 
version.  It  foUows  that  the  editor  was  either  inspired  by  Mrs. 
Shippen  or  Mrs.  Shippen  by  the  editor.  Careful  reading  of  this  par- 
ticular part  of  the  article  implies  that  we  do  not  have  to  face  here 
strictly  contemporary  evidence.  Waiving  aside  for  the  present  some 
doubts  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the  story  as  quoted  above,  the  main 
contention  appears  to  be  that  Judge  Nicholson  supplied  the  tune. 
Light  is  shed  on  the  whole  matter  by  the  history  of  the  tune  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven"  in  England  and  America  investigated  in  the 
preceding  pages. 

The  summary  there  given  of  publications  of  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven"  was  not  intended  as  an  exhaustive  attempt  to  trace  the 
tune  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  in  early  American  song  publications, 
but  merely  to  prove  and  to  corroborate  bj^  facts  that  "the  tune  was 
a  common  one  at  that  day"  in  America,  as  Francis  Scott  Key's  own 
daughter,  Mrs.  Howard,  told  Mrs.  Shippen. 

We  have  some  further  contemporary  evidence  in  this  communi- 
cation sent  by  Mr.  Charles  V.  Hagner  to  the  American  Historical 
Record,  1873,  volume  2,  page  129: 

At  the  time  it  was  written  by  Mr.  Key,  during  the  attack  on  Fort  McHenrj', 
Sept.,  1814,  there  was  a  very  popular  and  fashionable  new  song  in  vogue,  viz: 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  every  one  who  could  sing  seemed  to  be  singing  it. 
The  writer  of  this  was  at  the  time  (Sept.,  1814),  one  of  some  three  to  four  thou- 
sand men  composing  the  advance  Light  Brigade,  chiefly  volunteers  from  Phila- 
delphia, under  the  command  of  General  John  Cadwalader,  then  encamped  in 
the  State  of  Delaware.  In  the  evenings  before  tattoo,  many  of  the  men  would 
assemble  in  squads  and  sing  this  song,  hundreds  joining  in  the  chorus.  Mr. 
Key  must  have  caught  the  infection  and  adapted  his  words  to  the  same  air. 


'^The    Star    Spangled    Banner"  79 

Francis  Scott  Key  simply  can  not  have  escaped  ''To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven" !  Indeed  so  common  was  the  tune  that,  after  Thomas  Paine 
had  set  the  example  with  his  "Adams  and  Liberty, "  the  music  and  the 
rather  involved  form  and  meter  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  were 
adopted  as  standards  by  poetically  inclined  patriots.  This  historical 
fact  apphes  with  all  its  force  to  Francis  Scott  Key.  The  form  and 
meter  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  "Adams  and  Liberty,"  and 
"The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  are  practically  the  same,  as  the  juxta- 
position of  the  first  stanza  will  prove,  if  such  proof  be  necessary. 

TO  ANACREON   IN   HEAVEN. 

To  Anacreon  in  heaven,  where  he  sat  in  full  glee, 

A  few  sons  of  Harmony  sent  a  petition, 
That  he  their  inspirer  and  patron  would  be. 

When  this  answer  arrived  from  the  jolly  old  Grecian: 
"Voice,  fiddle,  and  flute, 
"No  longer  be  mute, 
"I'll  lend  ye  my  name,  and  inspire  ye  to  boot: 

"And  besides,  I'll  instruct  you,  like  me,  to  entwine 
"The  myrtle  of  Venus  with  Bacchus's  vine. " 

THE   STAR-SPANGLED   BANNER. 

O  say,  can  you  see  by  the  dawn's  early  light, 

What  so  proudly  we  hailed  at  the  twilight's  last  gleaming? 
Whose  broad  stripes  and  bright  stars  through  the  perilous  fight. 
O'er  the  ramparts  we  watched,  were  so  gallantly  streaming! 
And  the  rocket's  red  glare, 
The  bombs  bursting  in  air 
Gave  proof  through  the  night  that  our  flag  was  still  there; 
O  say,  does  that  star-spangled  banner  yet  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave? 

It  is  absurd  to  think  that  any  poetically  inclined  patriot  of  those 
days  hke  Key  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  could  have  set  himself  to 
writing  a  poem  of  such  involved  meter  and  peculiar  form  as  his  is 
without  consciously  or  unconsciously  using  a  model.  It  is  equally 
absurd  under  the  circumstances  to  believe  any  story,  tradition,  or 
anecdote  from  whatever  source  to  the  effect  that  others,  with  more  or 
less  difficulty,  suppUed  a  tune  which  fits  the  words  almost  more 
smoothly  than  does  John  Stafford  Smith's  air  the  Anacreontic  text 
of  Ralph  Tomlinson.  Internal  evidence  proves  that  Francis  Scott 
Key,  when  his  imagination  took  fire  from  the  bombardment  of  Fort 
McHenry,  had  either  the  meter  and  form  of  the  words  or  words  and 
air  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  or  one  of  its  American  offshoots  in 
mind  as  a  scaffold.  If  this  be  now  taken  for  granted,  two  possibiUties 
offer  themselves:  First,  Key  wrote  his  inspired  lines  as  a  poem  with- 
out anticipating  its  musical  use.  When  shortly  afterwards  a  desire 
was  felt  to  sing  his  poem,  the  identity  of  poetic  meter  and  form  of 
both  poems  necessarily,  and,  as  it  were,  automatically,  suggested  to 


80  "The    Star    Spangled    Banner" 

Key  Mmself  or  any  other  person  of  culture  the  air  of  "To  Anacreon 
m  Heaven."  The  second  possibiUty  is  that  Key  did  anticipate  the 
musical  possibilities  of  his  poem  and  intended  it  as  a  song  to  be  sung. 
In  that  case  the  fact,  as  will  be  seen,  that  his  so-called  original 
manuscript  does  not  contain  any  indication  of  the  tune  may  be 
explained  by  assuming  that  Key,  very  much  like  the  editor  of  the 
American  Songster,  Baltimore  (1800),  considered  it  unnecessary  to 
mention  what  was  self-evident  to  him  as  the  author.  Col.  Warner's 
statement  that  "The  old  air  of  'Anacreon  in  Heaven'  had  been 
adapted  to  it  [the  poem]  by  the  author"  seems  to  approach  the 
truth,  though  if  a  very  fine  distinction  were  to  be  made  we  should 
rather  say  that  the  poem  was  adapted  by  the  author  to  one  of  the 
then  current  poetic  mates  of  the  old  air  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven." 
The  first  possibihty  is  really  the  more  plausible  in  view  of  what  Mr. 
W.  U.  Hensel,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  wrote  me  under  date  of  March  10, 1910: 

...  I  believe,  however,  that  you  have  fallen  into  a  misapprehension  as  to 
the  likelihood  of  Key  having  had  in  his  miad  and  memory  the  air  of  "To  Anacreon 
in  Heaven."  I  doubt  whe>-her  Key  knew  enough  about  music  to  carry  any  air 
in  his  mind.  You  no  doubt  have  access  to  the  files  of  the  [Philadelphia]  Press 
in  the  National  Library,  and  you  may  be  interested  to  know  upon  the  authority 
of  his  immediate  relatives  that  I  said  in  my  article  [Aug.  1,  1881,  on  Key's  early 
poetry]:  Whatever  the  merits  of  its  composition,  it  was  a  matter  of  little  concern 
to  its  author.  Inclined  as  he  was  to  rhythmical  expression  of  his  fancies  he  had 
an  ignorance  of  musical  composition  that  would  be  utterly  inconceivable  if  it 
were  not,  by  a  most  remarkable  illustration  of  the  law  of  heredity'  made  plain 
in  the  case  of  some  of  his  descendants.  He  could  not  tell  one  tune  from  another. 
Old  Hundred,  Yankee  Doodle,  HaU  Columbia,  and  the  Star-Spangled  Banner 
were  entirely  undistinguishable  to  the  ear  of  Francis  Scott  Key.  Upon  the  occa- 
sion of  the  visit  to  Tuscaloosa,  before  referred  to,  he  was  serenaded,  and  the  local 
band  naturally  played  the  music  of  his  famous  song.  To  the  great  astonishment 
and  amusement  of  the  gentlemen  about  him,  he  innocently  remarked  that  "it 
was  a  pretty  air,"  densely  ignorant  of  the  tune  they  were  playing.  A  daughter 
iaherited  the  same  lack  of  musical  aptitude  and  her  daughter,  in  turn;  and  now, 
in  the  fourth  generation,  a  great-granddaughter  of  the  author  of  the  S tar-Spangled 
Banner  has  vainly  tried  for  years  to  accomplish  enough  musical  knowledge  to 
know  that  tune  when  it  is  played. 

Even  if  literally  true,  this  entertaining  bit  of  information  would 
not  affect  the  substance  of  my  argument.  I  am  not  claiming  that 
Key  must  have  had  in  his  mind  and  memory  the  music  of  the  air  of 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven."  Even  if  Key  had  been  absolutely  deaf 
and  not  merely  tone-deaf,  it  was  but  necessary  for  him  or  one  of 
his  associates  to  have  in  mind  and  memory  the  name  of  the  air  that 
was  generally  sung  to  patriotic  songs  in  the  uncommon  meter  of 
Key's  poem.  If  Francis  Scott  Key  was  so  unmusical  that  he  did  not 
even  consider  the  possibility  of  singing  his  poem  (which,  like  hun- 
dreds of  other  patriotic  poems,  would  probably  have  died  a  natural 
death  without  the  preserving  power  of  music)  not  so  Judge  Nicholson. 


"The   Star   Spangled   Banner''  81 

He  was  a  "musician  and  something  of  a  poet,"  so  his  granddaughter 
infonned  us:  I  therefore  think  that  her  view  of  the  matter  is  abso- 
lutely correct — provided  that  Key  himself  did  not  propose  the  tune 
of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  or  any  of  its  then  current  American 
equivalents — if  she  says: 

Judge  Nicholson  ...  no  doubt  took  but  a  few  minutes  to  see  that  the  lines 

given  him  by  Francis  Scott  Key  could  be  sung  to  that  tune,  and,  in  all  haste 

to  give  the  lines  as  a  song  to  the  public,  he  thus  marked  it. 

Whether  or  not  he  really  thus  marked  Key's  mamiscri'pt  is  imma- 
terial, but  the  really  noteworthy  fact  appears  to  be  that  perhaps 
"The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  owes  as  much  of  its  popularity  to  its 
musically  cultured  press  agent,  Judge  Joseph  Hopper  Nicholson,  as  to 
its  possibly  unmusical  author  Francis  Scott  Key. 

Finally  an  account  deserves  to  be  reprinted  here  in  part,  because 
it  mentioned  the  person  who  set  Key's  poem  in  type,  though  otherwise 
the  lines  quoted  are  not  overly  accurate,  as  the  reader  of  the  Taney 
letter  wiU  notice.  It  appeared  in  the  Baltimore  American  on  Sep- 
tember 12,  1872,  together  with  a  reprint  of  the  article,  etc.,  of 
September  21,  1814,  and  reads  in  part: 

We  have  placed  at  the  head  of  this  article  this  now  immortal  national  song 
just  as  it  first  [incorrect;  this  honor  belongs,  as  was  seen,  to  the  Baltimore  Patriot] 
saw  the  light  in  print  fifty-eight  years  ago  .  .  .  This  song,  as  the  form  in  which 
it  is  given  shows,  was  published  anonymously.  The  poet,  P'rancis  Scott  Key, 
was  too  modest  to  announce  himself,  and  it  was  some  time  after  its  appearance 
that  he  became  known  as  its  author.  .  .  .  Mr.  Skinner  chanced  to  meet  Mr. 
Key  on  the  flag-of-truce  boat,  obtained  from  him  a  copy  of  his  song,  and  he  fur- 
nished the  manuscript  to  "The  American"  after  the  fight  was  over.  It  was  at 
once  put  in  type  and  published.  It  was  also  printed  in  slips  and  extensively 
circulated.  The  "printer's  boy,"  then  employed  in  the  office  of  "The  Ameri- 
can," who  put  this  song  in  type,  survives  in  full  vigor,  our  respected  friend,  the 
editor  and  publisher  of  the  "American  Farmer,"  Samuel  Sands,  Esq. 

Fortunately  the  facts,  as  recollected  by  liim,  have  been  narrated 
by  Mr.  Samuel  Sands  himself  in  a  letter  written  under  date  of  January 
1, 1877,  from  the  office  of  the  American  Farmer  to  Gen.  Brantz  Mayer. 
Mr.  John  T.  Loomis  of  the  firm  of  W.  H.  Lowdermilk  &  Co.,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  in  1910  kindly  gave  me  access  to  this  very  long  but 
very  interesting  letter  and  permission  to  quote  the  following  for  my 
purposes.  Mr,  Sands  tells  the  general  that  he  takes  the  earliest 
opportmiity  of  giving  "a  statement  of  my  recollections  and  impres- 
sions of  the  participation  I  had  in  the  promulgation  of  the  original 
copy  of  our  great  national  song,  the  Star-Spangled  Banner."  Pre- 
viously, he  says,  he  had  given  sundry  items  to  the  editor  of  the 
Baltimore  American  for  "the  centennial  edition  of  the  paper," 
also,  he  beUeved,  to  Col.  Scharff  for  his  chronicles  of  Baltunorc,  and 
more  recently,  in  June,  1874,  had  printed  in  the  American  Farmer  a 
24115°— 14 6 


82  "The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

more  detailed  account.  Follows  an  introductory  historical  narra- 
tive based  on  Taney's  letter  and  remarks  on  the  military  quarters 
of  the  "citizen  soldiers,"  mostly  from  Baltimore,  "upon  Louden- 
slagers  Hill,  just  eastward  of  the  city  borders."  Sands  then  con- 
tinues : 

'V^Tiilst  thus  located,  Mr.  Thos.  Murphy,  one  of  the  members  of  Capt.  Aisquith's 
First  Baltimore  Sharp  Shooters,  obtained  leave  of  absence,  and  returned  to  the 
city,  and  again  opened  the  counting  room  of  the  American  which  with  all  the  other 
newspapers  of  the  day,  had  suspended  publication  for  the  time  being,  the  editors, 
journeymen,  and  apprentices  able  to  bear  arms  being  in  the  military  service. 
According  to  the  best  of  my  recollection  I  was  the  only  one  belonging  to  the 
printing  office  that  was  left  who  was  not  in  the  military  service;  being  then  but 
fourteen  years  of  age,  and  not  capable  of  bearing  arms,  I  whiled  away  the  time 
during  the  suspense  of  the  invasion  in  looking  after  the  office  and  in  occasional 
visits  to  the  *'boys"  at  the  entrenchments.  After  Mr.  Murphy's  return,  the  manu- 
script copy  of  the  song  was  brought  to  the  office — I  always  had  the  impression 
that  Mr.  John  S.  Skinner  brought  it,  but  I  never  so  stated  it  as  a  fact,  for  I  had 
no  proof  thereof,  but  it  was  a  mere  idea  and  I  never  considered  it  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  make  inquiry  upon  the  subject  from  my  old  and  valued  friend,  Mr. 
Murphy,  or  from  Mr.  Skinner,  who  was  subsequently  engaged  with  me  in  the 
editing  of  my  farm  journal  and  who  was  the  founder  thereof — but  the  letter  of 
Judge  Taney  alluded  to  above,  proves  that  I  was  mistaken  in  that  matter — 
Mr.  Skinner  was  a  cartel  agent  for  our  Government  in  its  intercourse  with  the 
British  fleet  in  our  Bay  and  I  took  up  the  impression  that  he  on  his  return  from 
the  fleet  had  brought  from  Mr.  Key  the  manuscript,  but  Judge  Taney  gives  the 
particulars  of  the  examination  and  copying  of  the  song,  in  this  city,  by  Judge 
Nicholson  and  Mr.  Key,  and  remarks  that  one  of  these  gentlemen  took  it  to  the 
printers. 

When  it  was  brought  up  to  the  printing  office  my  impression  is,  and  ever  has 
been,  that  I  was  the  only  one  of  those  belonging  to  the  establishment  who  was 
on  hand,  and  that  it  was  put  in  type  and  what  the  printers  call  "galley  proofs" 
were  struck  off  previous  to  the  renewal  of  the  publication  of  this  paper,  and  it 
may  be  and  probably  was  the  case  that  from  one  of  these  proof  slips  handbills 
were  printed  and  circulated  through  the  city. 

This  is  simply  all  the  part  which  I  had  in  the  transaction  alluded  to.  Although 
the  song  obtained  celebrity  in  a  little  time  after  it  was  first  presented  to  the  world, 
yet  the  unimportant  and  very  secondary  consideration  as  to  who  first  printed 
and  issued  it  was  never  mooted  for  probably  fifty  years  thereafter  when  I  was 
called  upon  by  sundry  persons  to  give  my  recollections  upon  the  subject  which 
called  forth  the  responses  in  the  several  publications  alluded  to  already. 

At  the  time  I  put  the  song  in  type  I  was  an  apprentice  in  the  office  of  the  Balti- 
more American  and  lived  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Murphy.  .  .  . 

One  of  the  popular  legends  is  that  Key's  poem  with  its  music 
spread  like  wUdfire  beyond  Baltimore,  and  in  a  short  time  became 
a  national  song.  The  popular  mind  seems  to  consider  it  a  blemish,  a 
reflection  on  the  intrinsic  merits  of  a  song  (or  any  other  work  of  art) 
if  it  does  not  obtam  immediate  popularity,  and  writers  who  cater 
to  the  tastes  and  prejudices  of  the  multitude  do  not  hesitate  to 
amputate  the  facts  accordingly.  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner" 
rather  gains  than  loses  in  merit  if  the  silly  anecdotes  of  its  wildfire 


''The    Star    Spangled    Banner"  83 

progress  are  not  heeded,  and  if  we  adhere  to  what  is  still  common 
knowledge  among  the  older  generations,  namely,  that  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner"  was  not  rushed  to  the  front  of  our  national  songs 
untU  the  Civil  War.  Before  that  time  its  progress  as  a  national  song 
had  been  steady,  but  comparatively  slow,  as  anybody  may  see  who 
follows  its  career  through  the  American  song  collections.  This 
statement  in  no  wise  interferes  with  the  fact  that  Francis  Scott  Key 
put  it  too  modestly  if  he  "believed  it  to  have  been  favorably  received 
by  the  Baltimore  public."  His  poem  unquestionably  soon  aroused 
patriotic  interest  outside  of  Baltimore.  For  instance,  The  Analectic 
Magazine,  Philadelphia,  1814,  volume  4,  November  number,  page  433 
(I,  owe  this  reference  to  ^Ir.  Charles  E.  Gannon,  of  Washington,  D.  C), 
printed  Key's  poem  and  the  original  historical  note  together  with 
these  significant  introductory  remarks : 

These  lines  have  been  abeady  published  in  several  of  our  newspapers;  they 
may  still,  however,  be  new  to  many  of  our  readers.  Besides,  we  think  that  their 
merit  entitles  them  to  preservation  iu  some  more  permanent  form  than  the  columns 
of  a  daily  paper. 

How  Key's  poem,  originally  written  without  a  title,  was  beginning 
to  gain  ground  under  the  name  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  is 
Hhistrated  by  this  advertisement,  reprinted  from  the  Washington 
National  Intelligencer,  January  6,  1815,  in  the  University  Musical 
Encyclopedia,  1911,  Volume  U: 

Star  Spangled  Banner  and  Ye  Seamen  op  Columbia. — Two  favorite  patri- 
otic songs,  this  day  received  and  for  sale  by  Richard  &  Mallory,  Bridge  Street, 
Georgetown . 

By  whom  the  songs  were  published  and  where  I  do  not  know, 
never  having  seen  a  copy.  From  the  wording  of  the  advertisement 
I  infer  that  perhaps  these  publications  were  not  broadsides  of  the 
customary  kind,  with  mere  indication  of  the  tune,  but  music  sheets. 
In  that  case,  the  advertised  publication  may  have  been  the  first  ap- 
pearance in  print  of  Key's  poem  and  Smith's  air  under  the  title  of 
"The  Star-Spangled  Banner." 

It  would  be  quite  possible  to  trace  with  infinite  patience  the 
progress  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  through  the  American  song 
collections,  but  this  report  hardly  calls  for  such  a  laborious  undertak- 
ing. However,  to  illustrate  the  point  raised  above,  one  would  find 
that  the  text  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  appears  in  such  song- 
sters as  The  American  Songster,  New  York,  n.  d.;  New  American 
Songster,  Philadelphia,  1817;  Bird  of  Birds,  New  York,  1818;  The 
Star-Spangled  Banner,  Wilmington,  1816;  The  Songster's  Magazine, 
New  York,  1820;  American  Naval  and  Patriotic  Songster,  Baltimore, 
1831;  but  not  in  such  as  The  Songster's  Companion,  Brattleborough, 
Vt.,  1815;  The  Songster's  Miscellany,  Philadelphia,  1817;  The  Song- 
ster's Museum,  Hartford,  1826.     In  other  words,  20  years  after  its 


84  '^The    Star    Spangled    Banner" 

conception  Key's  " Star-Spangle d  Banner"  was  not  yet  so  generally 
accepted  as  a  national  song  as  to  necessitate  insertion  in  every  songster. 

Furthermore,  no  publication  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner" 
appears  among  the  songs  deposited  for  copyright  in  the  several  dis- 
trict courts  during  the  years  1819  to  1844  and  preserved  at  the 
Library  of  Congress.  Unfortunately  not  aU  copyright  deposits  have 
been  thus  preserved,  Nevertheless  the  fact  of  absence  is  suggestive, 
as  is  the  fact  that  of  our  89  school  songbooks  published  in  America 
between  1834  and  1860  and  classified  as  school  songbooks  in  the 
Library  of  Congi-ess  only  15  include  the  "Star-Spangled  Banner." 
The  two  earliest  appearances  in  our  school  songbooks  are  in  Johnson 
and  Osgood's  Normal  Song  Book,  Boston,  1851  (deposited  January 
15,  1852),  and  in  Benjamin  and  Woodbury's  New  York  Normal 
School  Song  Book,  1851  (deposited  April  12,  1851).  In  this  it  forms 
No.  12  (the  last)  of  part  first  of  "America.  Represented  in  the  form 
of  a  juvenile  oratorio"  (compare  Appendix,  Plate  XX).  The  second 
part  of  this  patriotic  pasticcio  concludes  with  "Hail  Columbia,"  and 
it  is  quite  obvious  from  an  examination  of  these  89  school  songbooks 
that  "Hail  Columbia"  and  "America,"  even  the  "Marseilles  Hymn" 
interested  the  compilers  more  than  did  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner." 
As  Plate  XXI  the  reader  wiU  find  in  Appendix  a  facsimile  of  the 
"Star-Spangled  Banner"  as  it  appears  in  "Fillmore's  New  Nightin- 
gale; or  Normal  School  Singer  .  .  .  on  a  mathematically  constructed 
plan  of  notation,"  Cincinnati,  1857.  Not  less  curious  is  the  ver- 
sion in  "buckwheat  notes"  or  "patent  notes"  in  Smith  and 
Ruby's  The  Vocalist's  Pocket  Companion,  (^ambersburg  (''1839), 
facsimiled  on  Plate  XXII.  No  earHer  dated  edition  of  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner"  for  part-song  purposes  has  so  far  been  found  in 
the  Library  of  Congress.  It  seems  to  antedate  our  numerous  song- 
books for  "singing  classes,"  "musical  conventions,"  etc.,  but  with 
its  queer  notation  offeis  not  half  so  comical  an  appearance  as  the 
version  in  Suffern's  The  Excelsior,  Cincinnati,  1862,  which  presents 
"The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  with  a  regular  tum-ta-ta,  tum-ta-ta 
waltz  accompaniment. 

If  the  idea  should  prevail  that  at  least  the  "singing  class"  type  of 
songbooks  generally  included  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  I  am  in- 
clined to  disagree.  At  any  rate,  the  "Star-Spangled  Banner"  will  not 
be  found  in  such  popular  songbooks  as  B.  F.  Baker's  The  Philharmonic, 
1847;  A.  D.  Fillmore's  The  Universal  Musician,  1850;  Ch.  Jarvis's 
Yotmg  Folk's  Glee  Book,  1856;  W.  B.  Bradbury's  MetropoUtan  Glee 
Book,  1852;  Lowell  and  WilHam  Mason's  Asoph,  1861;  Geo.  F.  Root's 
The  Coronet,  1865.  The  plain  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner"  was  slow  in  gaining  popular  consideration  equal 
to  that  accorded  to  "Hail  Columbia"  and  "America."  It  took  two 
wars,  first  the  Civil  War  and,  some  30  vears  later,  the  Spanish  War, 


''The    Star    Spangled    Banner"  85 

to  crowd  other  national  songs  into  the  background  in  favor  of  ''The 
Star-Spangled  Banner,"  and  that  fact,  it  seems  to  me,  is  not  quite 
without  significance.  As  hist  illustration  (on  Plate  XXIII-XXIV) 
will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  Firth  &  Hall's  edition  of  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner."  This  edition  does  not  appear  to  have  been  copy- 
righted, and  therefore  the  exact  date  of  publication  is  unknown  to  me. 
The  ih-m  of  Firth  &  Hall,  so  Mr,  Warren  Pond,  of  the  old  and  distin- 
guished New  York  music  firm  of  Wm.  A.  Pond  &  Co.,  informed  me 
on  December  18,  1913,  "started  about  the  year  1821."  Our  copyright 
records  show  that  the  last  copyright  entry  under  Firth  &  Hall  was  on 
September  15,  1845,  and  the  first  entry  under  Firth,  Hall  &  Pond  on 
September  24,  1845.  It  so  happens  that  our  copy  bears  the  stamp 
of  "W.  E.  Millet's  Music  Saloon,  375  Broadway,  N.  Y."  According 
to  the  city  directories.  Millet  was  at  this  address  from  1836-37  to 
1838-39.  From  1839-40  on  his  address  was  at  329  Broadway. 
Obviously,  then,  the  piece  must  have  been  pubhshed  before  1840. 
The  firm  of  Firth  &  Hall  was  not  at  1  Franklin  Square  before  1832. 
Hence  the  years  1832  and  1839  give  a  rough  idea  of  the  age  of  the 
piece.  At  any  rate,  it  is  the  earhest  music  sheet  ecUtion  of  "The 
Star-Spangled  Banner"  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  though,  peihaps, 
not  the  earhest  pubhshed  in  our  country." 

Key's  poem  was  accessible  to  the  pubhc  as  a  broadside  possibly  as 
early  as  the  morning  of  September  15,  1814.  Here  must  be  quoted 
what  Admiral  Preble  said  on  page  725  of  the  second  edition,  of  his 
"History  of  our  Flag": 

Tlie  song  on  this  broadside  was  enclosed  in  an  elliptical  border  composed  of 
the  common  type  ornament  of  the  day.  Around  that  border,  and  a  little  distance 
from  it,  on  a  line  of  the  same  are  the  words  "Bombardment  of  Fort  McHenry." 
The  letters  of  these  words  are  wide  apart,  and  each  one  surrounded  by  a  circle 
of  stars.  Below  the  song  and  within  the  ellipsis  are  the  words  "Written  by 
Francis  S.  Key,  of  Georgetown,  D.  C." 

This  description  appUcs  to  the  ''Fac-simile  of  broadside  as  the 
song  first  appeared  in  print,"  contained  in  L.  H.  Dielman's  pamphlet 
"The  Seventh  Star,"  pubhshed  at  Baltimore  by  the  board  of  public 
works  for  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition,  1904.  Howevei-,  it 
may  be  pointed  out  by  way  of  correction  that  merely  the  initial  "  F" 
and  not  the  full  name  of  Francis  is  printed,  that  we  read  M'Henry, 
not  McHenry,  that  a  rather  pretty  and  effective  ornamental  outer 
border  follows  the  shape  of  the  broadside,  and  that  the  four  corners 
contain  additional  ornamental  designs.     What  arouses  the  curiosity 

a  This  book  was  in  proof  sheets  when  my  attention  was  drawn  to  an  edition  of 
"The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  published  by  "  Geib  &  Co.,  No.  23  Maiden  Lane," 
of  New  York.  From  the  New  York  city  directories  I  infer  that  the  piece  was  pub- 
Ushed  between  1816  and  1825.  It  is  facsimiled  in  Appendix  as  Plate  XXV,  by  per- 
miesion  of  the  Boston  Public  Library. 


86  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

of  the  historian  most  is  that  Key's  authorship  is  not  withheld;  that 
Admiral  Preble  does  not  mention  this  fact  at  all;  that  the  title 
of  the  poem  here  is  ''The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  and  that  no  tune  is 
indicated. 

If  Preble's  description  tallies  with  a  broadside  as  facsimiled  by 
Dielman,  it  absolutely  differs  from  "  one  of  those  first  'printed  handbills" 
which,  so  Mrs.  Shippen  stated  in  her  article,  first  was  in  possession  of 
her  grandfather,  Judge  Joseph  Hopper  Nicholson,  then  of  his  wife, 
after  that  in  Mrs.  Shippen's  possession,  and  recently  was  acquired 
together  with  a  Star-Spangled  Banner  autograph  by  Mr.  Henry 
Walters,  of  Baltimore.  The  latter  courteously  granted  permission  to 
examine  these  treasuies,  and  I  found  that  his  broadside  (about  6^ 
by  5^  inches)  is  without  any  ornamental  design  whatsoever,  does  not 
mention  Key's  name  at  all,  and  does  not  bear  any  title  except  "De- 
fence of  Fort  M'Henry."  (Facsimile  deposited  in  Library  of  Con- 
gress as  Historical  Documents,  No.  3,  by  Mr.  J.  E.  H.  Post.  Compare 
Appendix,  Plate  XV.)  This  is  followed  by  the  same  historical 
note  as  appeared  in  the  Baltimore  Patriot  of  September  20,  1814, 
then  by  the  indication  "Tune:  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  and  lastly  by 
practically  the  same  text  of  the  poem  as  it  appears  in  the  Judge 
Nicholson- Widow  Nicholson-Mrs.  Shippen-Mr.  Walters  autograph. 
The  only  differences,  apart  from  the  differences  in  interpunctuation, 
etc.,  are  these: 

(1)  In  the  first  stanza  was  printed  the  "Bombs"  instead  of  the 
bomb. 

(2)  In  the  second  stanza  the  misprint  "reflected  new  shines" 
instead  of  "reflected  now  shines." 

(3)  In  the  broadside  capital  letters  frequently  appear  where  they 
are  not  found  in  the  autograph,  f.  i,  "The  Rocket's,"  "Land  of  the 
Free,"  "Home  of  the  Brave."  On  the  other  hand,  the  autograph 
has  "Country"  whereas  this  broadside  has  "country." 

Here  then  are  two  broadsides,  both  of  which  are  claimed  to  have 
belonged  to  that  edition  set  up  on  the  morning  of  September  15, 
1814.  We  are  not  permitted  to  accept  Mrs.  Shippen's  claims  for  her 
broadside  offhand,  since  her  account  is  clearly  a  mixture  of  family 
tradition,  personal  opinion,  and  sediment  from  reading  on  the  subject. 
The  broadsides  to  be  authentic  must  stand  the  test  of  analytical 
criticism,  and  if  by  this  process  one  is  eUminated,  then  all  reason- 
able skepticism  will  vanish  from  the  other. 

The  observations  called  forth  by  the  broadside  championed  by 
Preble  and  Diehnan  are  curious  indeed  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
Baltimore  Patriot,  when  pubHshing  Key's  poem  on  September  20, 
1814,  with  a  prefatory  historical  note,  did  not  print  the  title  "The 
Star-Spangled  Banner,"   but  instead  "Defence  of  Fort  M'Henry," 


"The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  87 

did  not  mention  Key  by  name  at  all,  but  added:  "Tmie:  Anacreon 
in  Heaven."  Key's  poem — and  this  is  a  fact  hitherto  rarely,  if  ever, 
pointed  out— made  its  first  appearance  in  an  American  songster  in 
the  very  rare  "National  Songster,  or,  a  collection  of  the  most  admired 
patriotic  songs,  on  the  brilliant  victories  achieved  by  the  naval  and 
military-heroes  .  .  .  Fhst  Hagerstown  edition,"  Hagerstown  [Md.], 
John  Gruber  and  Daniel  May,  ISlJt  on  p.  30-31  under  the  title  of 

"DEFE>fCE   OP   FORT   m'hENRY. 
Tune:  Anacreon  in  Heaven. 
Wrote  by  an  American  Gentleman  [!],  who  was  compelled  to  witness  the  bom- 
bardment of  Fort  M'Henry,  on  board  of  a  flag  vessel  at  the  mouth  of  the  Patapsco." 

Evidently  the  compiler  of  the  National  Songster  clipped  Key's 
poem  from  the  Baltimore  Patriot  or  Baltimore  American  and  did 
not  use  a  copy  of  this  broadside.  If,  as  Mrs.  Shippen  insists  (Pa. 
Mag.  of  Hist.,  1901-2,  pp.  427-428),  her  grandfather's  broadside  was 
"  One  of  those  first  printed  handbills,"  why  was  Key's  name  suppressed 
in  the  earliest  newspaper  accounts  after  Judge  Nicholson  had  per- 
mitted it  to  go  on  the  handbill  which  he  himself  had  ordered  at  a 
printing  office?  One  might  suspect  that  in  view  of  the  vindictive 
natm-e  of  the  British  it  was  deemed  safer  for  Mr.  Key  to  suppress  the 
name  of  the  author  of  "Theh  foul  footsteps'  pollution"  m  a  paper 
of  fairly  healthy  chculation,  but  this  explanation  is  not  plausible, 
because  the  historical  note  in  the  Baltimore  papers  could  have  left 
no  doubt  of  the  offender's  identity  in  the  minds  of  British  officers 
should  they  have  been  in  a  position  to  catch  Key.  Possibly  Key's 
modesty  w-ould  not  permit  disclosure  of  his  authorship,  but  what 
could  his  modesty  avail  him  if  a  broadside  with  his  name  had 
already  been  favorably  received  by  the  public  of  Baltimore?  And 
not  merely  this,  we  have  the  words  of  Mrs.  Shippen: 

Judge  Nicholson  wrote  a  little  piece  that  appears  at  the  heading  of  the  lines, 
above  which  he  also  wrote  the  "name  of  the  tune  Anacreon  in  Heaven." 

Obviously  this  action  of  Judge  Nicholson  can  not  apply  to  that 
broadside  wliich  contains  ''no  little  piece"  nor  indication  of  the  tune, 
but  it  does  apply  to  the  account  in  the  Baltimore  papers.  Hence  it 
would  have  been  Judge  Nicholson  himself  who  withheld  Key's  name 
from  the  newspapers  after  he  had  given  it  to  the  pubUc  in  the  Dielman 
broadside.  Furthermore,  the  Baltimore  newspaper  account  was  bodily 
reprmted  in  the  National  Intelligencer  September  27,  1814,  under  the 
same  title  "  Defence  of  Fort  M'Henry,"  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  anony- 
mous poem  appears  the  editorial  note :  "  Whoever  is  the  author  of  those 
lines  they  do  equal  honor  to  his  principles  and  liis  talent!"  Conse- 
quently, not  even  the  editor  of  a  paper  prmted  at  Wasliington,  D.  C, 
practically  Key's  home,  knew  of  liis  authorship  as  late  as  September  27. 


88  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

Indeed,  the  anonymous  "gentleman"  figures  ui  the  Baltknore  Amer- 
ican at  least  as  late  as  October  19,  1814.  There  is  another  suspi- 
cious circumstance.  It  should  have  aroused  surprise  before  this  that 
Samuel  Sands,  the  apprentice,  set  up  at  a  moment's  notice  such 
an  elaborate  ornamental  handbill  as  described  by  Preble  and  fac- 
similed by  Diehnan.  The  boy  must  have  had  remarkably  precocious 
artistic  instincts  indeed,  and  very  rapid  hands  and  eyes.  But  why 
did  he  refuse  to  follow  copy;  why  are  there  several  differences  between 
his  broadside  and  the  so-called  original  manuscript?  Thus  one 
becomes  convinced  that  this  Dielman  Iroadside  is  not  and  can  not  Tiave 
teen  a  copy  of  the  one  struck  off  before  the  publication  in  the  Baltimore 
Patriot  and  Baltimore  American,  but  a  copy  of  a  broadside  pubUshed 
considerably  after  that  date,  when  Key's  authorship  was  no  longer 
kept  a  secret,  when  his  poem  had  changed — at  least  in  print,  the 
earUest  manuscript  extant  has  none — its  title  from  "  Defence  of  Fort 
M'Henry"  to  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  and  when  verbal  differ- 
ences in  the  text  had  commenced  to  be  quite  frequent.  The  Preble- 
Diehnan  broadside  thus  being  eliminated,  only  the  Nicholson-Shippen- 
Walters  broadside  remains  for  serious  consideration,  and  as  far  as  I 
can  see,  it  contains  absolutely  nothing  to  arouse  our  suspicion.  In 
absence  of  proof  to  the  contrary,  it  may  indeed  be  called  a  copy, 
perhaps  a  unique  copy,  of  the  original  broadside  edition! 

We  turn  our  attention  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  original  manu- 
script of  Key's  poem. 

Mrs.  Shippen  writes  in  the  article  already  quoted: 

Having  heard  several  times  of  late  that  there  are  in  existence  several  original 
copies,  of  the  lines  written  on  the  night  of  September  12  [sic!],  1814  ...  by 
Francis  Scott  Key  .  .  .  and  as  I  am  the  fortunate  possessor  of  the  only  document 
that  could  exist  of  these  lines— the  original  manuscript — I  will  explain  how  it 
seems  possible  that  there  could  be  more  than  one  .  .  .  [follows  a  partly  inaccu- 
rate account  based  on  Taney]  ...  It  is  the  bach  of  that  old  letter,  unsigned,  that 
Francis  Scott  Key  (my  great-uncle)  gave  to  Judge  Joseph  Hopper  Nicholson 
(my  grandfather)  that  I  possess,  together  with  one  of  those  first  printed  handbills 
.  .  .  Judge  Nicholson  [seeing]  that  the  lines  given  him  by  Francis  Scott  Key 
could  be  sung  to  that  tune  [to  Anacreon  in  Heaven]  and  in  all  haste  to  give  the 
lines  as  a  song  to  the  public,  he  thus  marked  it.  I  possess  this  rare  original  man- 
uscript, kept  carefully  folded  by  his  wife,  Rebecca  Lloyd  Nicholson  and  taken 
from  her  private  papers  by  myself  and  framed.    .    .    . 

This  is  a  clear-cut  claim  of  possession  of  the  original  manuscript, 
and  yet  ^Irs.  Shippen  herself  undermines  the  claim  by  closing  her 
interesting  article  thus : 

.  .  .  The  first  piece  of  paper  on  which  the  lines  he  composed  were  written  on 
the  night  of  his  arrival  in  Baltimore  I  have  in  my  possession;  the  same  that  Mr. 
Key  himself  gave  to  Judge  Nicholson. 

These  statements  shghtly  contradict  each  other,  as  a  careful  read- 
ing of  Chief  Justice  Taney's  account,  on  which  ^Mrs.  Shippen  partly 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  89 

(though  perhaps  indirectly)  bases  her  claim,  will  prove.  According 
to  Taney,  Francis  Scott  Key  told  him  that — 

(1)  He  commenced  it  [the  poem]  on  the  deck  of  their  vessel  .  .  . 
that  he  had  written  some  lines  or  brief  notes  that  would  aid  him  in 
calling  them  to  mind,  upon  the  back  of  a  letter  which  he  happened 
to  have  in  his  pocket;  and  for  some  of  the  lines,  as  he  proceeded, 
he  was  obliged  to  rely  altogether  on  his  memory. 

(2)  He  finished  it  in  the  boat  on  his  way  to  the  shore. 

(3)  He  wrote  it  out  as  it  now  stands,  at  the  hotel,  on  the  night  he 
reached  Baltimore  and  immediately  after  he  arrived. 

(4)  On  the  next  morning  he  took  it  to  Judge  Nicholson. 
Consequently,  a  distinction  is  here  made  between  the  autograph 

sTcetch  or  draftoi  the  poem  as  commenced  on  the  cartel  vessel  &nd finished 
on  the  back  of  a  letter  in  the  boat  before  reaching  Baltimore,  and 
the  final  autograph  text  as  written  out  as  it  now  stands  after  Key's 
arrival  at  Baltimore.  It  is  this  first  clean  copy  and  final  version  of 
the  text  which  Key  took  to  Judge  Nicholson  for  his  critical  opinion, 
and,  of  course,  not  the  first  complete  sketch  or  draft  on  the  back  of 
the  letter.  In  the  first  quotation  from  her  article  Mrs.  Shippen 
describes  this  draft;  in  the  second  quotation,  the  manuscript  as 
written  out  after  Key's  arrival  at  Baltimore.  These  two  manuscripts 
she  confuses,  not  realizing  the  bibliographical  distinction  implied  in 
Chief  Justice  Taney's  narrative.  Hence  she  considered  herself  Judge 
Nicholson's  heir  to  the  original  manuscript  of  "The  Star-Spangled 
Banner,"  whereas  she  really  possessed,  and  Mr.  Henry  Walters,  oj 
Baltimore,  now  possesses,  not  the  original  manuscript  (i.  e.,  the  first 
complete  manuscript  draft  on  the  back  of  a  letter),  hut  Key^s  first 
clean  copy  of  the  original  manuscript  (i.  e.,  the  manuscript  "written 
out"  by  Key  after  his  arrival  at  Baltimore).  What  became  of  the 
real  original  manuscript  we  do  not  know.  Presumably  Key  had  no 
further  use  for  the  draft,  after  he  had  neatly  wTitten  out  his  poem  at 
the  hotel  and  probably  destroyed  it. 

The  Library  of  Congress,  by  permission  of  Mr.  I.  E.  H.  Post  who 
deposited  a  photograph  facsimile  of  the  Key  manuscript  as  "Historical 
Documents,  No.  1, "  is  now  in  a  position  to  inclose  here  for  purpose  of 
comparison  and  analysis  a  reproduction  of  this  facsimile  of  the  Key 
manuscript,  acquired  by  Mr.  Walters.  (Compare  Appendix,  Plate 
XVI.)  Other  facsimiles  may  be  found  in  the  Century  Magazine, 
1894,  page  362,  and  in  Dielman's  pamphlet  "Maryland,  the  Seventh 
Star."  Nobody  looking  at  these  facsimiles  or  the  original  can  con- 
cede that  the  latter  has  the  appearance  of  a  sketch  or  draft.  It  is  too 
neatly  WTittcn  for  that,  the  lines  are  too  symmetrically  spaced  and  the 
whole  manuscript  contains  practically  only  two  corrections:  In  the 
first  stanza  Key  wrote  and  then  crossed  out  "through'^  instead  of  " by 
the  dawn's  early  light,"  and  in  the  third,  "They  have  wash'd  out" 


90  ''The   Star    Spangled    Banner" 

instead  of  "  Their  hlood  has  wash'd  out.''  The  manuscript  contains 
no  signature,  no  title,  nor  indication  of  tune.  This  is  mentioned  par- 
ticularly because  Mrs.  Shippen's  article  might  convey  the  impression 
that  the  manuscript  is  "  thus  marked. "  The  visible  effects  of  folding 
do  not  point  at  all  to  the  "old  letter"  in  Key's  pocket,  since  Mrs. 
Shippen's  manuscript  had  been  "kept  carefully  folded"  by  Judge 
Nicholson's  -wife. 

Unquestionably,  the  manuscript  now  at  the  Walters  Gallery  is  the 
earliest  extant  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner."  It  may  perhaps 
best  be  described  as  the  original  manuscript  of  the  final  and  corrected 
text.  In  after  years  Key  presented  signed  autograph  copies  to  friends 
and  others,  but  just  how  many  such  copies  he  made  is  not  kno's\'n. 
At  any  rate,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  existence  of  several  auto- 
graph copies  led  to  confusion  as  to  their  chronological  sequence.  An 
attempt  shall  now  be  made  to  separate  intelligently  such  copies  as 
have  come  to  my  notice  principally  by  the  way  of  Admiral  Preble's 
several  contradictory  contributions  to  the  subject. 

Charles  Durang,  in  the  Historical  Magazine,  1864,  pages  347-348, 
claimed  that  "the  origmal  draft,  \\-ith  its  interlinations  and  amend- 
atory erasures,  etc.,  was  purchased  by  the  late  Gen.  George  Keim, 
of  Reading,  and  I  suppose  his  heirs  have  it  now." 

Without  the  slightest  hesitation  Preble  used  this  statement  in  his 
book  "Our  Flag"  (1st  ed.,  1872,  p.  495).  In  1874  Preble  wrote  in 
his  essay  "Three  historic  flags"  (New  Engl.  Hist,  and  Gen.  Reg., 
pp.  39-40)  that  this  particular  copy  was 

Presented  by  Mr.  Key  in  1842  to  Gen.  George  Keim  and  is  now  in  possession 
of  his  son  Henry  May  Keim,  Esq.,  of  Reading,  Perm.  ...  I  have  a  photo- 
graphic copy  of  the  autograph  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Keim. 

Retracting  his  former  statement  about  the  original  draft,  with  its 
erasures,  in  a  footnote  on  the  same  page,  Preble  states  that  his  pho- 
tograph shows  it  to  be  "a  fair  copy,  %\Titten  out  by  Mr.  Key,  and  I 
learn  from  Gen.  Keim's  son  that  the  autograph  was  presented  to  his 
father  by  ^Ir.  Key. ' ' 

A  facsimile  of  this  was  made  for  the  Baltimore  Sanitary  Fair  in 
1864,  so  Mr.  Keim  informed  Admiral  Preble  January  8,  1874  (see 
New  Engl.  Hist,  and  Gen.  Reg.,  1877,  pp.  29),  but,  if  made,  it  cer- 
tainly was  not  included  by  Kennedy  and  Bliss  in  their  "Autograph 
Leaves,"  as  the  Library  of  Congress  copy  of  this  work  proves.  Pre- 
ble gave  the  text  of  the  Keim  copy,  though  not  in  facsimile,  in  his 
essay,  "Three  historic  flags"  (1874).  In  the  second  edition  of  his 
History  of  Our  Flag  (1880)  he  then  informed  his  readers  that  Gen. 
George  Keim's  copy  had  "since  [been]  presented  to  the  Pennsylvania 
Historical  Society  by  his  son. "  This  statement  is  somewhat  puzzling, 
because  the  text  of  the  Keim  copy  quoted  by  Preble,  1874,  the 
dedication  "To  Gen.  Keim,"  and  the  undated  signature  "F.  S.  Key" 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  91 

are  identical  with  those  of  a  supposed  "Star-Spangled  Banner"  auto- 
graph in  possession  of  Mr.  Robert  A.  Dobbin,  of  Baltimore,  Md. 
When  generously  loaning  this  to  the  Library  of  Congress  for  exhi- 
bition purposes  and  granting  us  the  privilege  to  reproduce  it  in  fac- 
simile (see  AppendLx,  Plate  XIX),  Mr.  Dobbin,  under  date  of  March 
24,  1909,  wTote: 

Mr.  Key  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Gen.  Keim  of  Pennsylvania.  On  account 
of  this  intimacy  and  as  a  mark  of  the  friendship  which  existed  between  them, 
Mr.  Key  gave  this  copy,  which  I  have  loaned  you,  to  General  Keim.  You  will 
note  that  Gen.  Keim's  name  is  in  Mr.  Key's  handwriting. 

Mr.  Charles  W.  Keim,  a  son  of  General  Keim,  came  into  possession  of  this 
copy  after  the  death  of  his  father,  and  a  few  years  before  his  own  death  presented 
it  to  my  late  wife,  who  was  a  granddaughter  of  Mr.  Francis  Scott  Key. 
Mr.  Dobbin  apparently  was  not  aware  of  the  fact  that  he  possessed 
a  photograph,  not  an  original  autograph,  the  photograph  even  show- 
ing the  marks  of  thumb  tacks.     Consequently,  not  he  but  the  Penn- 
sylvania Historical  Society  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Keim  copy, 
which,  with  its  approximate  date,  1842,  is,  of  course,  as  far  removed 
from  the  original  draft  with  its  erasures  as  is  possible.     It  is  here 
reproduced  by  permission  of  the  society  (see  Appendix,  Plate  XVII.) 
Benson  John  Lossmg  wrote  m  footnote  (p.  956),  in  his  Pictorial 
Fieldbook  of  the  War  of  1812,  first  edition,  1868: 

The  facsimile  of  the  original  manuscript  of  the  first  stanza  of  the  "Star- 
Spangled  Banner,"  given  on  the  opposite  page,  was  first  published,  by  permission 
of  its  owner  (Mrs.  Howard)  daughter  of  the  author  [Key],  in  "Autograph  Leaves 
of  our  Country's  Authors,"  a  volume  edited  by  John  P.  Kennedy  and  Alexander 
BUss  for  the  Baltimore  Sanitary  Fair,  1864. 
Accepting  Lossing's  statement,  Preble  in  his  essay,  "Three  historic 
flags,"  1874,  credited  Mrs.  Charles  Howard,  of  Baltimore,  with  the 
possession  of  this  autograph.     As  the  facsmiilc  m  the  "Autograph 
Leaves"  shows,  it  bears  the  title  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  and 
the  signature  "F.  S.  Key,"  but  no  dedication  and  no  date.     The 
handw^ritmg  has  not  the  firmness  of  youth,  and  it  stands  to  reason 
that  Key  wrote  this  manuscript  ui  late  Ufe.     Admhal  Preble  had 
occasion  in  his  essay,  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  New  England 
Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  1877,  pages  28-31,  to  correct 
Lossmg's  statement  of  ownership,  smce  Mrs.  Howard  wTOte  him  under 
date  of  April  25,  1874: 

I  do  not  think  I  ever  had  an  autograph  of  The  Star-Spangled  Banner.    My 
father  [F.  S.  Key]  gave  his  children  from  the  time  they  could  speak,  the  habit  of 
committing  poetry  to  memory,  and  in  that  way  only  has  the  song  been  preserved 
to  me.     Except  in  one  or  two  words,  Mr.  Keim's  version,  as  you  have  it,  is  the 
one  I  have  ever  remembered. 
Though,  therefore,  Mrs.  Howard  disclaimed  ownership  of  this  par- 
ticular autograph,  yet  it  must  have  existed  and  is,  to  judge  by  the 
facsimile,  genuine. 


92  ''The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

Another  autograph  of  ''The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  was  thus 
described  by  Preble  in  his  book,  Our  Flag,  1872: 

A  copy  of  the  poem  in  Key's  own  handwriting,  a  copy  prepared  many  years 
after  its  composition,  and  evidently  in  the  exact  language  intended  by  its  author 
(as  it  was  presented  by  him  to  James  Mahar,  who  for  thirty  years  was  the  gardener 
of  the  executive  mansion),  was  a  few  years  since  exhibited  in  the  window  of 
Messrs.  Phillip  &  Solomons,  on  Pennsylvania  avenue,  Washington.  The  iden- 
tity of  the  handwriting  was  certified  to  by  Judge  Dunlop,  Nicholas  Callen,  Esq., 
Peter  Force,  and  others,  all  of  whom  were  intimately  acquainted  with  Mr.  Key 
and  perfectly  familiar  with  his  style  of  penmanship.  In  fact  his  style  was  so 
peculiar  and  uniform  that  it  would  be  almost  impossible  for  anyone  who  had  ever 
noticed  it  with  ordinary  care  to  be  mistaken. 

This  report  Preble  evidently  took  from  a  copy  of  the  National 
IntelUgencer,  from  which  he  further  quoted  "verbatim"  the  text  of 
the  Mahar  autograph  which  evidently  bore  the  title:  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner"  and  the  signature  "For  Mr.  Jas.  Mahar,  of  Wash- 
ington city,  Washington,  June  7,  1842.     From  F.  S,  Key." 

In  his  essay,  "Three  historic  flags,"  Preble  merely  added  that  the 
Mahar  copy  was  exhibited  at  Washington  "in  1843,  after  Mr.  Key's 
death."  The  present  whereabouts  of  the  Mahar  copy  is  unknown 
to  me. 

Finally,  in  his  essay,  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  1877  (already 
quoted  above),  Preble  remarked  of  a  copy,  dated  October  21,  1840: 
It  was  first  published  in  facsimile  in  the  American  Historical  and  Literary  Curi- 
osities (PI.  LV)  by  John  Jay  Smith  [Sec.  Ser.  N.  Y.  1860,  pi.  55]  who  stated  the 
original  was  in  the  possession  of  Louis  J.  Cist. 

Preble  enhvened  his  narrative  by  adding  a  reduced  facsimile  of  this 
1840  copy,  and  he  again  used  it  in  the  second  edition  of  his  History 
of  Our  Flag,  1880.  From  there  it  was  reproduced  by  Miss  Mary  L.  D. 
Ferris  in  the  New  England  Magazine,  1890,  for  her  article  on  "Our 
national  songs ' '  (pp.  483-504) .  Another  facsimile  is  in  the  possession 
of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  Worcester,  as  ;Mr.  E.  M.  Barton, 
the  librarian,  informed  me.  The  American  Antiquarian  Society  re- 
ceived it  on  October  21,  1875,  from  Maj.  Albert  H.  Hoyt,  then  editor 
of  the  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register.  The  orig- 
inal seems  to  have  disappeared  until  offered  for  sale  as  No.  273  in  Stan. 
V.  Henkel's  catalogue  of  the  Rogers  collection  of  autograph  letters, 
etc.,  1895.  The  added  facsimile  shows  absolute  identity  in  date, 
signature,  orthography,  appearance,  and  every  other  detail  with  the 
facsimile  at  Worcester. 

To  sum  up,  it  appears  that,  not  counting  the  original  draft  (i.  e.  the 
real  original  manuscript)  at  least  five  copies  of  "The  Star-Spangled 
Banner"  in  Francis  Scott  Key's  handwriting  exist,  or  at  least  existed: 

(1)  The  Judge  Nicholson-Mrs.  Shippen-Walters  copy,  1814.     (Walters.) 

(2)  The  Louis  J.  Cist  copy,  1840.     (Cist,  present  whereabouts  unknown.) 

(3)  The  supposed  Howard  copy,  ca.  1840.     (Howard.) 

(4)  The  Gen.  Keim-Pennsylvania  Historical  Soc.  copy.     (Pa.  Hist.  Soc.) 

(5)  The  Mahar  copy,  1842.     (Mahar.) 


''The    Star    Spangled    Banner"  93 

There  may  be  other  copies,  but  those  five  are  sufficient  for  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  the  changes  Francis  Scott  Key  himself  made  in  his 
poem.  The  different  versions  would,  as  often  happens  in  such  cases, 
be  used  by  different  compilers.  In  course  of  time  verbal  inaccuracies 
would  creep  from  one  song  book  into  the  other.  Also  the  compilers 
themselves  have  sometimes  felt  justified  in  improving  Key's  text. 
The  result  of  all  this  has  been,  of  course,  that  gradually  Key's  text 
became  unsettled.  As  earl}^  as  1872  Preble  marked  the  verbal  differ- 
ences between  certain  different  versions,  and  since  then  surely  the 
confusion  has  not  decreased.  Hence,  very  properly,  the  cry  for  an 
authoritative  text  has  been  raised.  What  should  constitute  such  a 
text,  whether  one  of  Key's  own  version,  or  a  combination  of  them,  or 
any  later  "improved"  version,  it  is  not  for  me  to  say,  though  I  may 
be  permitted  to  remark  that  in  my  opinion  there  is  no  reason  for  going 
outside  of  Key's  own  mtentions.  At  any  rate,  I  do  not  consider  it  my 
duty  to'  wade  through  endless  song  books  in  order  to  trace  all  the 
verbal  inaccuracies  and  alterations  of  the  text  of  "The  Star-Spangled 
Banner," '^  The  comparison  wiU  be  extensive  enough  for  all  practical 
purposes  if  it  be  limited  to  Key's  own  five  versions,  to  the  earliest 

«  In  this  connection  part  of  the  memorandum  of  Dr.  A.  R.  Spofford,  November  19, 
1907,  is  very  instructive.     He  wrote: 

"A  collation  of  this  authentic  copy  [i  e.,  the  Cist  copy],  with  several  widely  cir- 
culated collections  of  songs,  shows  numerous  variations  and  omissions.  Following  is 
a  statement  of  a  few  of  these,  with  the  number  of  discrepancies  found  in  each : 

"Nason  (E.).  A  Monogram  [!]  on  our  National  Songs.  Albany,  1869.  (11  varia- 
tions from  original,  and  one  stanza  omitted.) 

"Higgins  (Edwin).     The  Star-Spangled  Banner.     Baltimore,  1898.     (7  variations.) 
"Sousa  (J.  P.).     National  and  Patriotic  Airs  of  All  Lands.     Philadelphia,  1890. 
(14  variations,  with  a  fifth  stanza  added,  which  was  not  written  by  Key.) 

"Brj^ant  (W.  C).     Library  of  Poetr>-  and  Song.     New  York,  1880.     (8  variations.) 
"Dana  (C.  D.).     Household  Poetrj-.     New  York,  1859.     (7  variations.) 
"Coates   (H.    T.).     Fireside   Encyclopoedia   of   Poetry.     Philadelphia,    1879.     (9 
variations.) 

"Stedman  (E.  C).     American  Anthology.     Boston,  1900.     (5  variations.) 
"WTiile  some  of  these  alterations  from  the  author's  manuscript  may  seem  unim- 
portant, others  actually  change  the  meaning  of  the  lines,  as  in  the  second  stanza, 
where  Key  wrote — 

"  'What  is  that  which  the  breeze,  o'er  the  towering  steep 
"As  it  fitfully  blows,  half  conceals,  half  discloses?' 

"The  second  line  is  perverted  into — 

"  'As  it  fitfully  blows,  now  conceals,  now  discloses?' 

"In  all  except  three  of  the  reprints  before  noted  this  change  occurs. 

"It  is  fur  the  worse,  for  two  reasons: 

"(1)  It  destroys  the  fine  image  of  the  wind  flapping  the  flag  so  as  to  show  and  con- 
ceal alternately  parts  of  the  stars  and  stripes;  while  the  substitution  makes  the  breeze 
sometimes  conceal  the  whole  star-spangled  banner. 

"(2)  The  substitution  is  bad  literary  form,  since  it  twice  uses  the  word  'now,' 
which  the  author  has  applied  twice  in  the  two  lines  immediately  following." 


94  "The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 

printed  versions,  and  to  the  one  in  his  collected  poems.  They  will  be 
distinguished  from  each  other,  where  necessary,  by  the  words  written 
in  parenthesis.  These  printed  texts  here  compared  with  the  earliest 
manuscript  extant  are : 

(6)  The  Walters  Broadside.     (Broadside  I.) 

(7)  The  Pr^ble-Dielman  Broadside.     (Broadside  II.) 

(8)  Baltimore  Patriot,  1814.     (Patriot.) 

(9)  Baltimore  American,  1814.     (Baltimore  Am.) 

(10)  The  "National  Songster."     (National  Songster.) 

(11)  Key's  Poems,  publ.  1857.     (Poems.) 

The  comparison  is  based  on  the  Walters  text,  without  esthetic  com- 
ment. The  (later)  title  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  is  taken  for 
granted.  The  words  that  differ  are  italicized.  Differences  in  spelling 
and  interpunctuation  are  disregarded. 

O  say  can  ^  you  see  by  the  dawn's  early  light 

What  so  proudly  we  hail'd  ^  at  the  twilight's  last  gleaming, 
Whose  ^  hroad  stripes  &  bright  stars  through  the  *  perilous  fight 
O'er  the  ramparts  we  watch'd,  were  so  gallantly  streaming? 
And  the  rocket's  red  glare,  the  ^  bomb  bursting  in  air. 
Gave  proof  through  the  night  that  our  flag  was  still  there 
O  say  does  that  star  spangled  banner  yet  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  &  the  home  of  the  brave? 

*  On  the  shore  dimly  seen  through  the  mists  of  the  deep, 

Where  the  foe's  haughty  host  in  dread  silence  reposes, 
What  is  that  which  the  breeze,  o'er  the  towering  steep, 
As  it  fitfully  blows,  ^AaZ/ conceals,  AaZ/ discloses? 

Now  it  catches  the  gleam  of  the  morning's  first  beam 
In  full  glory  reflected  now  shines  ®  in  the  stream 
'Tis  the  star-spangled  banner — O  long  may  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  &  the  home  of  the  brave ! 

And  where  ^  is  that  band  who  so  ^^  vauntingly  swore, 
That  the  havoc  of  war  &  the  battle's  confusion 
A  home  &  a  Country  should  leave  us  no  more? 

"  Their  blood  has  wash'd  out  ^^  their  foul  footstep's  pollution 
No  refuge  could  save  the  hireling  &  slave 
From  the  terror  of  flight  or  the  gloom  of  the  grave, 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  doth  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  &  the  home  of  the  brave. 

"  0  thus  be  it  ever  when  "^^ freemen  shall  stand 

Between  their  lov'd  ^^home  &  ^^the  ivar's  desolation  ! 
Blest  with  vict'ry  &  peace  may  the  heav'n  rescued  land 

Praise  the  power  that  hath  made  &  preserved  us  a  nation ! 
Then  conquer  we  must,  when  our  cause  it  is  just. 
And  this  be  our  motto — ' '  In  God  is  our  Trust, ' ' 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  ^'  in  triumph  shall  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  &  the  home  of  the  brave. 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  95 

DIFFERENCES. 

1  Ye:  Cist. 

^By:  Cist. 

3  Bright  stars  &  broad  stripes:  Cist. 

*  Clouds  of  the:  Cist^  Pa.  Hist.  Soc;  Howard;  Mahar. 

^ Bombs:  Broadside  I  and  II;  Baltimore  Am;  Patriot;  Poems. 

^  From:  Broadside  II. 

^ On  that:  Cist;  Pa.  Hist.  Soc;  Howard:  Poems. 

^  Now-now:  Poems. 

^On:  Cist;  Mahar;  Patriot. 

I  Are  the  foes  that:  Pa.  Hist.  Soc.;  Howard. 
Are  the  foes  who:  Poems. 
That  host  that:  Cist. 
The  foe  that:  Mahar. 
^°Sweepingly:  Mahar. 
!•  This:  Mahar. 
^^His:  Mahar. 
^^And:  Broadside  II. 
^*  Foemen:  Mahar. 

^^ Homes:  Baltimore  Am.;  Cist;  Pa.  Hist.  Soc;  Howard;  Mahar. 
^^War's:  Mahar. 
"0  long  may  it:  Broadside  II. 

Like  other  patriotic  songs,  ''The  Star-Spangled  Bamier"  has  had 
its  share  of  additional  stanzas;  that  is,  of  verses  suggested  by  the 
changmg  times,  the  changing  spirit  of  the  times,  and  sectional  an- 
tagonism.    On  the  other  hand,  at  least  one  stanza  often  came  to  be 
omitted.     It  is  the  third,  undoubtedly  expressive  of  bitter  sentiment 
against  the  English,  as  was  natural  and  logical  in  1814,  but  rather 
mmatural  and  illogical  after  we  were  again  the  friends  of  England. 
This  apparent  defect  of  Key's  text  for  a  national  hymn,  which  should 
stand  above  party  feehng  and  chauvinism,  led  to  the  composition  of 
one  of  the  two  additional  stanzas,  which  shall  here  be  briefly  con- 
sidered.    Its  origin  was  narrated  to  Preble  in  1876  by  Benjamin  Rush 
in  the  following  words  printed  by  the  Admiral  in  liis  essay  on  "The 
Star-Spangled  Banner"  (New  Eng.  Hist,  and  Gen.  Reg.,  1877,  p.  31): 
The  circumstances  under  which  these  additional  stanzas  to  the  Star-Spangled 
Banner  first  came  to  my  hand  were  briefly  adverted  to  in  the  Preface  to  my 
edition  of  my  father's  book,  entitled  "Recollections  of  the  EngUsh  and  French 
Courts,"  published  in  London  in  1871,  where  I  then  was.     The  stanzas  were  also 
published-  but  that  need  not  interfere  in  the  least  with  your  desire  to  insert  them 
in  the  second  edition  of  your  History  of  the  Flag,  wherein  I  should  say  they 
would  appropriately  come  in.     The  name  of  the  author  by  whom  they  were  com- 
posed was  George  Spowers,  Esq.,  and  this  has  never  been  pubUshed.     I  thmk 
it  eminently  due  to  him  now  that  his  name  should  be  given  to  the  pubUc,  con- 
sidering not  only  the  beauty  but  the  admirable  sentiments  of  the  stanzas.     He 
had  seen  in  my  hands  a  manuscript  copy  of  the  original  song,  and  asked  me  to 
lend  it  to  him,  which  I  did.     A  day  or  two  aftenvards  he  returned  it  to  me  wth 
these  stanzas.     I  was  quite  a  boy  at  the  time,  at  school  with  my  two  brothers  at 
liampstead,  near  London,  while  my  father  was  residing  in  London  as  minister  of 
the  United  States.     It  must  have  been  about  the  year  1S24. 


96  "The    Star   Spangled    Banner" 

Mr.  Spowers's  stanza,  well-meant  but  objectionable,  because  it,  too, 
drags  our  national  hymn  into  foreign  pohtics,  reads: 

But  hush'd  be  that  strain!     They  our  Foes  are  no  longer; 

Lo  Britain  the  right  hand  of  Friendship  extends, 
And  Albion's  fair  Isle  we  behold  with  affection 

The  land  of  our  Fathers — the  land  of  our  Friends! 

Long,  long  may  we  flourish,  Columbia  and  Britain, 
In  amity  still  may  your  children  be  found. 
And  the  Star-Spangled  Banner  and  Red  Cross  together 
Wave  free  and  triumphant  the  wide  world  aro\md! 

The  best  known  of  the  additional  stanzas  is  the  one  written  by 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  as  he  informed  Admiral  Preble,  April  14,1872, 
at  the  request  of  a  lady  during  our  civil  war,  there  being  no  verse 
alluding  to  treasonable  attempt  against  the  flag.  According  to 
Preble  the  stanza  was  first  pubUshed  in  the  Boston  Evening  Tran- 
script. Preble  received  a  corrected  and  amended  autograph  of  the 
stanza  from  Holmes,  and  this  he  reproduced  in  facsimile  in  the 
second  edition  of  his  famous  work  (p.  730).     It  reads: 

"When  our  land  is  illumined  with  liberty's  smile, 

If  a  foe  from  within  strikes  a  blow  at  her  glorj^, 
Down,  down  with  the  traitor  that  dares  to  defile 
The  flag  of  the  stars,  and  the  page  of  her  story ! 
By  the  millions  imchained 
Who  their  birth-right  have  gained, 
We  will  keep  her  bright  blazon  forever  unstained; 
And  the  Star-Spangled  Banner  in  triumph  shall  wave, 
While  the  land  of  the  free  is  the  home  of  the  brave. 

It  has  been  noticed  beiore  this  that  not  only  the  text  of  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner"  but  its  music  is  sung  and  played  with  noticeable 
differences.  These  occur  both  in  the  harmonization  of  the  melody 
and  m  the  melody  itself.  To  trace  the  discrepancies  in  the  harmoni- 
zation would  hardly  be  profitable,  since  the  harmonization  of  any 
melody  will,  to  a  certain  degree,  always  be  a  matter  of  individual  taste. 
Often  many  ways  are  possible,  several  equally  good — i.  e.,  equally  ap- 
propiiate — and  seldom  one  the  only  proper  one.  The  harmonization 
depends,  of  course,  largely  on  the  bass,  and  since  the  harmonization 
of  a  national  song  should  be  simple  and  easily  g^-asped  by  the  popular 
mind,  there  can  not  be  much  variance  ol  opinion  as  to  the  bass. 
However,  historical  considerations  will  hardly  be  helpful  in  this  direc- 
tion. An  authoritative  harmonization  is  less  a  problem  of  history 
than  of  musical  grammar,  and  authoritative  it  can  be  only  for  those 
who  accept  the  harmonization  recommended  by  a  jury  ol  musicians 
as  the  authoritative  one  for  the  persons  under  their  own  musical 
jurisdiction.  It  is  somewhat  different  with  the  melody.  True, 
neither  an  act  of  Congress  nor  the  recommendation  of  a  board  of 
musicians  will  stop  the  process  of  polishing  and  modification  (either 


The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 


97 


for  better  or  for  worse)  which  takes  place  with  all  folk,  traditional, 
and  patriotic  songs.  Yet  it  is  obviously  imperative  for  musical  and 
other  reasons  that  at  least  the  melody  of  a  national  hymn  have  as 
much  stability  and  imiformity  as  can  be  forced  through  official  chan- 
nels on  the  popular  mind.  The  most  suitable  form  of  the  melody 
will  again  be  a  matter  of  decision  by  a  jury  of  musicians,  yet  it  may 
be  interesting  and  instructive  to  contrast  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven," 
as  used  and  modified,  partly  for  verbal  reasons,  about  1800,  with  the 
common  versions  of  its  offshoot  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  of  to- 
day, which  from  the  beginning  must  have  slightly  differed  from  "To 
Anacreon  in  Heaven"  by  dint  of  the  peculiarities  of  Key's  poem. 
First,  the  melody  as  it  appears  in  the  Vocal  Enchantress,  1783,  the 
earliest  version  of  indisputable  date  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  will 
be  compared  bar  for  bar  with  ''Adams  and  Liberty"  in  the  American 
Musical  Miscellany,  1798  (A.  M.  M.),  and  with  the  version  in  the 
Baltimore  Musical  Miscellany,  1804  (B.  M.  M.).  (The  facsimile  of 
the  "harmonized"  version  in  Smith's  Fifth  Book  shows  it  to  be 
too  garbled  for  purposes  of  melodic  comparison.  The  melody  given 
by  Longman  &  Broderip  in  the  probably  earliest  publication  of  the 
music  of  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  is  the  same  as  in  the  Vocal 
Enchantress.) 


VOCAI.  ENCHAKTBBSS.  1783. 
2 


24115°— 14 


The    Star    Spangled    Banner" 


OlFFBBBNCBS 

3  4 


Thus  the  so-called  polishing  process  had  begun  %vithin  one  genera- 
tion after  the  Sons  of  Harmony  had  adopted  "To  Anacreon  in 
Heaven  "  as  their  constitutional  song.  How  is  their  club  melody  sung 
to  the  words  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  by  Americans  young 
and  old  at  the  beginning  oi  the  twentieth  century  ?  For  the  purpose 
of  comparison  I  have  selected  at  random  12  recent  songbooks  and 
John  Philip  Sousa's  "National,  patriotic,  typical  ahs  of  all  lands" 
(1890),  compiled  "by  authority"  for  use  in  the  United  States  Navy. 
(Sousa.)  If  these  few  differ  so  widely  in  single  bars,  what  discrep- 
ancies could  be  revealed  if  all  the  songbooks  used  in  our  country 
were  similarly  compared  ? 

1.  W.  H.  Aiken.     Part  songs  for  mixed  voices  for  high  schools,  1908. 

2.  C.  A.  Boyle.     School  praise  and  song,  1903.     (B) 

3.  C.  H.  Famsworth.     Songs  for  schools,  1906.     (F) 

4.  A.  J.  Gantvoort.     School  music  reader,  1907  (G)  '■ 

5.  B.  Jepson's  New  Standard  Music  Readers,  Seventh  year,  1904  (J) 

6.  McLaughlin-Gilchrist.     Fifth  Music  Reader,  1906.     (M) 

7.  Ripley-Tapper.     Harmonic  Fifth  Reader,  1904.     (R) 

8.  E.  Smith.     Music  Course,  Book  Four,  1908.     (Sm) 

9.  J.  B.  Shirley.     Part  songs  for  girl's  voices,  1908  (Sh.) 

10.  H.  0.  Siefert.     Choice  songs,  1902  (Si) 

11.  C.  E.  Whiting.    The  New  public  school  music  course,  Third  reader,  1909  (W) 

12.  E.  J.  A.  Zeiner.     The  High  school  song  book,  1908.     (Z) 


''The    Star   Spangled    Banner"  99 


7, 16  8,  16  9, 17 


18  19 


\4=^  ^  J  Ir    r  ~J  I J    ,^U^=£=^==^-^^^^^-^fes^ 


26  27 


100 


The   Star   Spangled    Banner 


It  is  not  within  the  province  of  the  Library  of  Congress  to  recom- 
mend the  adoption  of  one  of  these  different  versions  against  the 
others,  but  attention  may  properly  be  drawn  to  "the  various  efforts 
made  by  the  music  department  of  the  N.  E.  A.  [National  Education 
Association]  to  secure  uniformity  in  the  singing  of  four  of  our  national 
songs."  A  resume  of  these  efforts  was  recently  issued  by  Mr,  A.  J. 
Gantvoort,  chairman  of  the  committee  in  charge  of  the  matter,  and 
reads  in  part : 

...  3.  At  the  N.  E.  A.  meeting,  held  in  Cleveland  in  July,  1908,  Mra.  Frances  E. 
Clark,  president  of  the  department,  upon  motion,  appointed  A.  J.  Gantvoort, 
Elsie  M.  Shaw,  and  Osbourne  McConathy  a  committee  to  make  a  singable  edition 
of  "America,"  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  "Hail  Columbia,"  and  the  "Red, 
White  and  Blue,"  giving  the  committee  authority  to  revise  words  and  music  for 
this  purpose. 

At  the  meeting  in  Denver  in  July,  1909,  the  chairman  reported  in  open  meeting 
that  the  committee  had  been  unable  to  agree  and  upon  motion  presented  his 
views  by  playing  the  songs  on  the  piano.     A  motion  was  then  made  and  carried 

o  Here  we  read  (p.  791)  in  the  secretary's  minutes  under  date  of  July  6:  "The  follow- 
ing arrangements  of  the  melodies  of  'America'  and  of  'The  Star-Spangled  Banner' 
were  finally  agreed  upon  as  the  versions  which  the  Department  of  Music  Education 
recommends  as  the  standard."  They  follow  with  the  savie  incorrect  statement  of 
musical  authorship  in  the  heading  as  in  the  committee 's  version  of  1912  and  it  is  quite 
obvious  that  in  1910  harmony  did  not  re%n  supreme  in  the  discussions.  The  principal 
bar  of  contention  seems  to  have  been  the  fiith.  If,  as  appears  from  the  quotation  be- 
low, three  versions  with  different  note  value  for  four  verses  of  the  same  poem  were 
recommended,  then  it  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  this  recommendation  could  not 
be  final.  Some  version  would  have  to  be  adopted  to  which  all  verses  could  be  sung 
uniformly — a  sine  qua  non  for  mass  utterance  in  national  songs. 


As  reported  by  the  Committee 


'  /  i'lr  r  r 


"What    60  proud  -  ly      we    hailed 


As  adopted  by  the  Department  of  Music  Education 


;/ir-  r  f 


"What    so  proud  -  ly    we     hailed 


pdt 


^ 


nr   t  I 


"Where  the  foe's    haugh-ty    host 


Be  -  tween  their  loved  homes 


V\.  OF  H 

''The   Star   Sp  a  n-g^ed   Banner''  101 

that  tlie  committee  be  enlarged  to  seven  menbers,  but  this  waa  reconsidered  at  an 
adjourned  meeting  to  allow  the  number  of  members  to  be  changed  to  ten,  aa 
follows:  A.  J.  Gantvoort,  Elsie  M.  Shaw,  Osbourne  McConathy,  R.  G.  Cole, 
Thomas  Tapper,  Jessie  L.  Gaynor,  E.  B.  Birge,  Mrs.  C.  B.  Kelsey,  Charles H.  Fams- 
worth,  and  Mrs.  Frances  E.  Clark. 

At  the  meeting  held  in  Boston  in  1910,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  made  a 
majority  report  agreed  upon  by  seven  of  the  members  present  at  a  meeting  in 
Cincinnati,  and  presented  copies  of  its  findings  before  the  department.  Motion 
was  made  and  carried  to  consider  only  the  melodies  of  these  songs,  omitting  the 
harmonization.  After  some  discussion,  a  version  of  the  melody  of  "America" 
was  unanimously  adopted.  After  considerable  discussion,  a  version  of  "The 
Star-Spangled  Banner,"  differing  in  each  stanza,  was  adopted  by  a  close  vote,  in 
which  several  associate  members  are  said  to  have  voted.  The  report,  as  far  aa 
was  agreed  upon,  was  published  in  the  volume  of  proceedings  in  1910. «  Upon 
motion,  the  committee  was  continued  and  ordered  to  finish  its  report  at  the  next 
meeting,  which  was  held  in  San  Francisco  in  1911.  The  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, being  absent  from  this  meeting,  presented  through  the  president  of  the 
department  the  same  report  as  at  the  Boston  meeting,  and  after  much  discussion, 
upon  motion,  the  action  of  the  Boston  meeting  was  ordered  to  be  reconsidered  and 
the  whole  matter  referred  back  to  the  committee  for  a  full  report  the  following 
year. 

At  the  meeting  of  1912  in  Chicago,  the  committee  presented  a  unanimous  report, 
which,  after  much  discussion,  was  finally  unanimously  adopted,  aa  presented  on 
the  following  pages.  & 

A.  J.  Gantvoort,  Chairman. 

o  See  foot  note  o,  page  100. 

&Mr.  Gantvoort  informed  me  that  by  an  oversight  the  air  there  continued  to 
he  dncor recti ij  attributed  to  Samuel  Arnold.  When  1  called  his  attention  to  the 
error,  his  surprise  was  comical  to  behold. 


102 

2 


"The   Star   Spangled    Banner" 
THE  STAR  SPANGLED  BANNER 


Francis  Scott  Key,  1779-1843 

Solo  or  Unison 


Dr.  Samuel  Arnold,  1740-1802 


1.  Oh!      say  can  you   see,    by  the  dawn' sear-ly  light.  What  so  proud-ly    r/e 

2.  Ontheshore.dim-Iy  seen  thro' the  mist  of    the  deep,  Where  the  foe's  haughty 

3.  Oh!     thus    be    it     ev  •  er  when  freemen  shall  stand    Be  -  tween  their  lov'd 


hailed  at  the  twilight's  last  gleaming?  Whose  broad  stripes  and  bright  stars  thro'  the  per-il-ous 
host  in  dread  si  lence  re-pKJS  -  es.  What  is  that  which  the  breeze,o'  er  the  tow-er-ing 
home  and  the  war's  des-o  -  la  -  tion.  Blest  with  vict'  ry  and  peace,  may  the  Heav'n-r«8-cued 


fight,  O'  er  the  ramparts  we  watched, were  so  gallantly  streaming.  And  the  rockets'  red 
steep,  As    it    fit  -  ful  -  ly  blows,  half  conceals, half  dis-clos-es?  Now  it  catches  the 
land  Praise  the  Pow'r  that  halh  made  and  preserved  us    a      na  -  tion.  Then  con-quer  we 


glare,  the  bombs  bursting  in  air.  Gave  proof  thro'  the  night  that  our  flag  was  still  there, 
gleam  of  the  morning' s  first  beam,  In  full  glo-ry  re-flect-ed,  now  shines  on  the  stream, 
must,  when  our  cause  it  is  just.    And    this  be  our  motto,  "  In    God  is  our  trust." 


''The   Star   Spangled    Banner"  103 

3 
THE  STAR  SPANGLED  BANNER.     Continued 

Refrain    Suprano  and  Alto 


2. 'Tis     the    star     span  -  gled 
3.  And    the    staf     span  -  gled 

y  Bass. 


ban 
ban 


ner, 
ner 


ohl 


long 
tri    " 


may 

umph 


It 

shall 


Oh  I  ^  say     does     the 

'Tis     the    star     span  -  gled. 


star  spang  -  gled  ban 
ban  -  ner,  oh!  long 
ban  -  ner         in         tri    - 


ner 
may 
umph 


yet : 

it 

shall 


wave  O'er  the  land    of        the        free    and    the  home    of 
wave  O'er  the  land    of       the        free    and   the  home   of 


brave  ? 
brave  I 


wave  O'er  the  knd  of  the  free  and  the  home  of 
wave  O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of 
wave  O'er  the  land    of       the        free    and    the  home    of 


brave  ? 
brave  I 
brave  I 


LITERATURE  USED  FOR  THIS  REPORT. 

GENERAL. 

Banks,  Loins  Albert:  Immortal  songs  of  camp  and  field;  the  story  of  their  inspira- 
tion, together  with  striking  anecdotes  connected  with  their  history  .  .  .  Cleve- 
land, The  Burrows  bros.  co.,  1899  [1898].     298  p.  illus.  8°. 

Brinton',  Howard  Futhey:  Patriotic  songs  of  the  American  people.  New  Haven, 
The  Tuttle,  Morehouse  &  Taylor  co.,  1900.     Ill  p.  12°. 

Brown,  James  Duff:  Characteristic  songs  and  dances  of  all  nations.  London, 
Beyley  &  Ferguson,  c  1901.     276  p.  4°. 

BuTTERWORTH,  Hezekiah:  The  great  composers.  Rev.  and  enl.  Boston,  Lothrop 
publishing  company,  1894.     5  p.  1.,  195  p.  incl.  plates.     18^  cm.     pp.  124-160. 

Celebrated  folksongs  and  their  true  history.  Metronome,  1903,  v.  19,  no. 
9,  p.  9. 

Daniell,  Carl  A.:  National  airs  and  who  wrote  them.  Current  literature,  1896, 
vol.  20,  pp.  453-454. 

Elson,  Louis  Charles:  Folk  songs  of  many  nations,  collected  and  ed.,  with  preface 
and  annotations.  Cincinnati,  Chicago  [etc.]  The  J.  Church  company  [1905]. 
1  p.  1.,  171  p.  28  cm. 

Elson,  Louis  Charles:  The  national  music  of  America  and  its  sources.  Boston, 
L.  C.  Page  and  company,  1900  [1899].  vi,  v-\iii,  9-326  p.  4  port.  (incl.  front.). 
17i  cm.     {See  also  his  Hist,  of  Am.  Music,  1904,  pp.  140-164.) 

Ferris,  Mary  L.  D.:  Our  national  songs  [illus.  fac-similes,  especially  of  letter  by 
Rev.  S.  F.  Smith,  dated  1889  and  narrating  origin  of  "America"].  New  England 
magazine,  1890.     new  ser.     vol.  2,  pp.  483-504. 

FiTZ-GERALD,  S.  J.  Adair:  Stories  of  famous  songs.     London,  1898. 

Johnson,  Helen  (Kendrick)  "Mrs.  Rossikr  Johnson:''  Our  familiar  songs  and  those 
who  made  them.  More  than  three  hundred  standard  songs  of  the  EngUsh-speaking 
race,  arranged  with  piano  accompaniment,  and  preceded  by  sketches  of  the  writers 
and  histories  of  the  songs.     New  York,  H.  Holt  and  co.  1881 .     xiii,  660  p.  4°. 

Johnson,  Helen  (Kendrick)  "  Mrs.  Rossiter  Johnson:''  Our  familiar  songs  and  those 
who  made  them;  three  hundred  standard  songs  of  the  English  speaking  race, 
arrange<l  with  piano  accompaniment,  and  preceded  by  sketches  of  the  writers  and 
histories  of  the  songs.  New  York,  H.  Holt  and  company,  1889.  xiii,  660  p. 
25i  cm. 

Johnson,  Helen  Kendrick  and  Dean,  Frederic:  Famous  songa  and  those  who 
made  them  ..  .  New  York,  Bryan,  Taylor  &  co.  1895.  2  v.  4°.  [The  American 
national  songs  here  treated  are  contained  in  the  first  volume.] 

KoBBE,  Gustav.:  Famous  American  songs.  New  York,  T.  Y.  Crowell  &  co.  [1906]. 
xvii,  [1],  168,  [1]  p.  incl.  front,  plates,  ports.,  facsims.     20^  cm. 

McCarty,  Willlam:  Songs,  odes,  and  other  poems  on  national  subjects.  Philadel- 
phia, 1842.     3v. 

105 


106      Literature    Used   for   this   Report 

Mead,  Leon:  The  songs  of  freedom  [includes  M.  Keller's  "The  American  hymn" 
with  music].     Chautauquan,  1900,  vol.  3i,  pp.  574-584. 

Moore,  Frank:  Songs  and  ballads  of  the  American  Revolution.  New  York.  D. 
Appleton  &  CO.,  1856. 

Nason,  Elias:  A  monogram  on  oirr  national  song.    Albany,  J.  Munsell,  1869.    69  p.  8°. 

National  Melodies  of  America:  The  poetry  by  George  P.  Morris,  esq.,  adapted 
and  arranged  by  Chas.  E.  Horn.  Part  I.  New  York,  1839.  [Review  of  the  col- 
lection which  does  not  deal  with  national  melodies  but  rather  with/oZi  melodies 
with  a  leaning  towards  negro  songs.]  Southern  literary  messenger,  1839.  vol.  5, 
pp.  770-773. 

National  songs  [merely  reprint  of  two  prize  poems  "Sons  of  America"  and  "Old 
Glory"].     Iowa  historical  record,  1895,  vol.  11,  pp.  329-331. 

Our  National  Songs;  with  numerous  original  illustrations  by  G.  T.  Tobin.  New 
York,  F.  A.  Stokes  co.  [1898].     128  p.  illust.  24°  [words  only.] 

Preble,  Henry  George:  History  of  the  flag  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Sec- 
ond revised  edition.  Boston,  A.  Williams  and  co.  1880.  3  p.  715-768.  [Chapter 
on  "National  and  patriotic  songs,"  also  first  edition,  1872,  used.] 

Reddall,  Henry  Frederic:  Songs  that  never  die  .  .  .  enriched  with  valuable  his- 
torical and  biographical  sketches  .  .  .  Philadelphia  National  Publishing  co. 
[cl892].     615  p.  8°. 

RiMBAULT,  Edward  F.:  American  national  songs  [with  music].  Leisure  hour,  1876, 
vol.  25,  pp.  90-92. 

Saffell,  W.  T.  R.:  Hail  Columbia,  the  Flag  and  Yankee  Doodle  Dandy.  Baltimore, 
T.  Newton  Kurtz,  1864.     123  p.  8°. 

Smith,  Nicholas:  Stories  of  great  national  songs.  Milwaukee,  The  Young  church- 
man CO.  [etc.  etc.,  1899].    238  p.  2  pi.,  18  port.  (incl.  front.).     19J  cm. 

SoNNECK,  O.  G.:  Bibliography  of  early  secular  American  music.  Washington,  D.  C. 
Printed  for  the  author  by  H.  L.  McQueen,  1905.     x,  194  p.     29  cm. 

SoNNECK,  O.G.:  Report  on  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  "  Hail  Columbia, "  "Amer- 
ica," "Yankee  Doodle."  Washington,  Govt,  print,  off.,  1909.  255  p.  incl.  21 
double  facsim.     26^  cm. 

Spofford,  Ainsworth  R.:  The  lyric  element  in  American  history.  Columbia  His- 
torical Society,  Records,  1904,  vol.  7.     (Same  printed  separately.) 

SousA,  John  Philip:  National,  patriotic,  and  typical  airs  of  all  lands,  with  copious 
notes.  Philadelphia,  H.  Coleman  [cl890].  283  p.  4°.  [Compiled  by  authority 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  1889,  for  the  use  of  the  department.] 

Stevenson,  E.  Irenaeus:  Our  "national"  songs.  Independent,  1897,  vol.  49,  nos. 
2526-2561. 

Wayne,  Flynn:  Our  national  songs  and  their  writers.  National  magazine,  1899/1900, 
vol.  11,  pp.  284-296. 

White,  Richard  Grant:  National  hymns.  How  they  are  written  and  how  they  are 
not  written.  A  lyric  and  national  study  for  the  times.  New  York,  Rudd  & 
Carleton  [etc.],  1861.     x,  [11]-152  p.  incl.  front.     23  cm. 


Literature  Used   for  this    Report      107 

STAR  SPANGLED  BANNER— SPECIAL 

Antiquary:  Origin  of   "The  Star  spangled  banner."     Music,  1891-92,  vol.  1,  pp. 

469-471. 
Appleton,  Nathan:  The  Star  Spangled  Banner.    An  address  delivered  at  the  Old 
South   Meeting   House,    Boston  ...  on   June    14,    1877.     Boston,    Lockwood, 
Brooks  &  Co.,  1877.     8°.     34p.  [on  the  history  of  the  flag,  the  song,  etc.] 
Babtlett,  Homer  N.  :  E  pluribus  unum.     Musical  courier,  1912,  v.  64,  no.  23,  p.  37. 
Blake,  John  Henry:  American  national  anthem.     "Star  spangled  banner"  made 
'  'singable' '  for  the  voices  of  the  people.     History  of  the  origin  of  the  words  and 
music  .  .  .  New  York,  J.  H.  Blake,  1912.     3  p.  1.,  10  p.     34  cm. 
Browne,  C.  A.:  The  story  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner."    Musician,  1907,  v.  12, 

p.  541. 
Carpenter,  John  C:  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner"    [with  port,   and  facsimile]. 

Centurj'  magazine,  1894,  vol.  48,  pp.  358-363. 
Chappell,  Wm.:  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner'  and  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven"  [on 
the  authorship  of  John  Stafford  Smith].     Notes  and  Queries  (London),  1873, 
4th  ser.,  vol.  11,  pp.  50-51. 
CuMMiNGS,  William  H.:  English  music  (1604  to  1904),  being  the  lectures  given  at 
the  Music  Loan  Exhibition  .  .  .  1904,  London,  The  Walter  Scott  Publishing 
Co.,  1906.     (On  pp.  51-52  his  comment  on  "To  Anacreon  in  Heaven.") 
Dorsey,  Mrs.  Anna  H.     Origin  of  the  Star  Spangled  Banner  [reprinted  from  Wash- 
ington Sunday  Morning  Chronicle].     (Dawson's)  Historical  magazine,  1861,  vol.  5, 
pp.  282-283. 
Flood,  W.  H.  Grattan:  The  original  air  of  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner."     Church 

music,  1909,  v.  4,  pp.  281-282. 
Flood,  W.  H.  Grattan:  The  Irish  origin  of  the  tune  of  The  Star  Spangled  Banner. 

Ave  Maria,  July  6,  1912,  pp.  19-20. 
For  a  new  National  Hymn.  North  American  review,  1906,  vol.  183,  pp.  947-948. 
The  Francis  Scott  Key  Memorlal.    Munsey's  magazine,  1898,  vol.  20,  pp.  325-326. 
Gebhart,  I3.  R.  :  The  national  anthem.    School  music,  1911,  v.  12,  no.  57,  pp.  16-17, 20. 
Hagner,  a.  B.:  Genesis  of  The  Star  Spangled  Banner.    The  Historical  Bulletin 
(Washington,  D.  C),  1905,  v.  6,  no.  2,  pp.  29-33  (with  facsimile  of  the  "author's 
first  draft"). 
Henry,  Rev.H.T.:  The  air  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner."     Records  of  theAmer- 

icai  CathoUc  Hist.  Soc,  1913,  v.  24,  no.  4,  pp.  289-335. 
HiGGiNS,  Edwin:  The  national  anthem  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  Francis  Scott 
Key',  and  patriotic  lines.     BaUimore,  1898  [illustrated  reprint  of  the  poem  with 
a  brief  biographical  sketch,  12  p.  16°]. 
Hill,  Marion:  The  Star  Spangled  Banner.     Does  it  get  weighed?    Or  yet  wade? 
Uncertainty   of  many  school  children  on  the  subject.     McClure's  magazine, 
1900,  vol.  15,  pp.  262-267  [not  historical]. 
Key,  Francis  Scott:  Poems  .  .  .  with  an  introductory  letter  by  Chief  Justice  Taney. 
New  York,  R.  Carter  &  Bros.,  1857  [the  letter  narrates  "the  incidents  connected 
with  the  origin  of  the  song  The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  as  told  the  author  by 
Key]. 
K[idson],  Frank:  Star  Spangled  Banner.     Grove's  dictionary  of  music  and  musi- 
cians', 2d  ed.,  1908.     vol.  4,  pp.  674-675. 
King,  Horatio:  The  Star  Spangled  Banner.     Magazine  of  American  history.  1883. 
Vol.  X,  pp.  516-517. 


108      Literature   Used   for  this   Report 

KiNNEAR,  Wm.  B.:  The  Star  Spangled  Banner  melody.  School  music,  1912,  v.  13, 
no.  58,  pp.  11-15. 

LossiNG,  Benson  John:  The  pictorial  field-book  of  the  war  of  1812.  Facsimile  of 
the  original  manuscript  of  the  first  stanza  of  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner," 
reprinted  from  Kennedy  and  Bliss'  "Autograph  leaves  of  our  country  authors;" 
origin  of  the  hymn  narrated  in  footnote  to  pp.  956-958. 

Leinaed,  L.  :  Story  of  our  National  song.     Piano  magazine,  1910,  v.  3,  no.  6,  pp.  31-36. 

McLaughxin,  J.  Fairfax:  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner!"  who  composed  the  music 
for  it.  It  is  American,  not  English.  American  Art  Journal,  1896.  vol.  68,  No. 
13,  pp.  194-195. 

Mead,  Lucia  Ames:  Our  National  Anthem  [against  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner"]. 
Outlook,  1903.     vol.  75,  p.  616. 

Maryland,  Board  of  public  works:  The  seventh  star.  Facts  and  figures  about 
the  State  of  Maryland.  Her  past  greatness  and  her  present  prosperity  .  .  .  Pub. 
by  the  board  of  public  works  for  the  Loiusiana  purchase  exposition.  Maryland 
day,  September  12th,  1904.  Baltimore,  Md.  Press  of  Lucas  brothers  [1904] 
[22]  p.  front.,  illus.,  ports.,  facsims.  23^  cm.  Contains  facsimiles.  Compiled 
by  [L.  H.  Dielman]. 

A  MONUMENT  TO  Francis  Scott  Key  [by  Doyle  and  port,  of  K.  on  p.  128].  The 
Critic,  1898.     new  ser.     vol.  30,  p.  129. 

Municipal  bands  and  our  National  air.  American  musician,  1912,  v.  28,  no.  16, 
pp.  10-11. 

The  National  Anthem  [on  the  official  adoption  of  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  by 
the  Army  and  Navy].     Outlook,  1903.     vol.  75,  p.  245. 

National  hymnology  [on  our  national  anthem  with  special  reference  to  "The  Star 
Spangled  Banner"].     Scribner's  magazine,  1907.     vol.  42,  pp.  380-381. 

PiNKERTON,  "Willlam:  The  Star  Spangled  Banner.  Notes  &  Queries,  1864.  3d  ser. 
vol.  6,  pp.  429-430. 

Preble,  George  Henry:  The  Star  Spangled  Banner,  autographic  copies,  additional 
verses,  etc.  (8°.  7p.)  published  separately  in  ed.  of  100  copies  with  facsimile. 
Boston,  1876. 

Preble,  Geo.  Henry:  The  Star  Spangled  Banner.  Autograph  copies,  additional 
verses,  etc.  Communicated  by  Rear  Admiral  .  .  .  [with  facsimile  of  copy  dated 
Oct.  21,  1840].  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  register,  1877.  vol, 
31,  pp.  28-31. 

Peeble,  Geo.  Henry:  Three  historic  flags  and  three  September  victories  [contains 
important  matter  on  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  especially  the  different  auto- 
graphs]. New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  1874.  vol.  28,  pp. 
17-41. 

RoSewig,  a.  H.:  "Anacreon  in  Heaven, "  the  origin  of  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner" 
with  its  complete  history.     Philadelphia  cl909.     4  p.  fol. 

Salisbury,  Stephen:  The  Star  Spangled  Banner  and  national  songs  [Read  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  in  Worcester,  Oct.  21].  Dwight's 
journal  of  music,  1872.     vol.  32,  pp.  332-333. 

Salisbury,  Stephen:  The  Star  Spangled  Banner  and  national  airs.  [Read  before 
the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  Oct.  21,  1872.]  American  Historical  Rec- 
ord, 1872.     vol.    1,    pp.    550-554. 

Salisbuey,  Stephen:  An  essay  on  the  Star  Spangled  Banner  and  national  songs. 
Read  before  the  society,  October  21,  1872.  Worcester,  1873.  8°.  15  p.  Re- 
printed from  the  Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society. 


Literature  Used  for  this  Report      109 

Same  [second  ed.]  with  additional  notes  and  songs.     Worcester,  1873.     8°. 

24  p.  (ed.  of  100.) 
Salisburt,  Stephen:  The  Star  Spangled  Banner  and  national  songs.     American 

Antiquarian  Society,  Proceedings,  1873,  pp.  43-53. 
ScHELL,  Frank  H:  Our  great  national  hymn  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  and  its 

origin  [inconsequential  note].     Leslie's  weekly,  1898.     vol.  87,  p.  85. 
[The  selection  of  the  music  for  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner"  by  Ferdinand 

Durang.]    Iowa  Historical  Record,  1897.     vol.  13,  p.  144. 
Shippen,  Rebecca  Lloyd:  The  original  manuscript  of  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner." 

Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  Hist.  &  Biogr.,  1901.     vol.  25,  pp.  427-428. 
Smith,  F.  S.  Key:  Fort  McHenry  and  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner"  [with  port,  of 

Francis  Scott  Key].     The  Republic  magazine,  1908.     vol.  1,  No.  4,  pp.  10-20. 
Smith,  Francis  Scott  Key:  Francis  Scott  Key,  author  of  the  Star  Spangled  Banner; 

what  else  he  was  and  who.     Washington,  D.  C,  Key-Smith  and  Co.,  [cl911]. 

104  p.     4  pi.,  3  port.  (incl.  front.)  facsim.    lOJcm. 
The  Star  Spangled  Banner  [facsimile  of  the  handwriting  of  the  author,  Francis  S. 

Key,  dated  Washington,  October  21, 1840,  formerly  in  possession  of  Lewis  J.  Cist]. 

Smith's  Americanhistorical  and  literary  curiosities,  2d8er.     Philadelphia,  PI.  LV. 
The  Star  Spangled  Banner:  Dwight's  journal  of  music,  1861.     vol.  19,  pp.  37, 

39,  46. 
The  Star  Spangled  Banner:  American  Historical  Record,  1873.     vol.  2,  pp.  24-25. 
Star  Spangled  Banner  [inconsequential  note].     American  notes  and  queries,  1888. 

vol.  1,  pp.  199. 
The  Star  Spangled  Banner  [criticism  of  J.  H.  Blake's  pamphlet].    Musical  news, 

1912.     vol.  42,  p.  225. 
Star  Spangled  Banner  in  choral  form.     School  music  monthly,  1912.     vol.  1?, 

no.  61. 
The  Star  Spangled  Banner.     [Facsimile  of  four  stanzas  in  autograph  of  F.  S.  Key, 

dated  Oct.  21,  1840]  Henkel's  Catalogue  of  autograph  letters,  etc.     No.  738,  p.  50. 
[Taney,  Roger  B.]:  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  [extract  from  a  letter  dated  1856, 

written  to  her  giving  the  origin  of  the  words  and]  Contributed  by  Mrs.  Rebecca 

Lloyd  Shippen.     Pennsylvania  magazine  of  history  and  biography,   1898/99. 

vol.  22,  pp.  321-325. 
Uneda.    Note  on  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner."    Notes  and  Queries  (London),  2d 

Ber.,  1861.     vol.  12,  p.  310. 
Warner,  John  L.:  The  origin  of  the  American  National  anthem  called  the  Star 

Spangled  Banner.     [Read  before  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  at  its 

meeting,  1867].     (Dawson's)  Historical  magazine,  1867.     vol.  11,  pp.  27{>-280. 
Wilcox,  Marion:  America's  National  song  [The  Star  Spangled  Banner]  Harper's 

weekly,  1905.     vol.  49,  p.  373. 
X.     The  Star  Spangled  Banner    .     .     .     Musical  times,  1896.     vol.  37,  pp.  516-519. 


INDEX 


"Adams  and  Liberty,"  15,  16,  62,  63,  79, 

97,  PI.  X,  XII. 
Aiken,  W.  H.,  98. 
"All  the  way  to  Gal  way,"  14. 
"America,"  84. 

"America"  ("juvenile  oratorio"),  84. 
American  art  journal  (1896),  10. 
American  Catholic  Historical  Society,  17, 

48-55. 
"American  Musical  Miscellany,"  16. 
American  Naval  and  Patriotic  Songster, 

83. 
The  American  Republican  harmonist,  63. 
American  Songster,  62,  80,  83. 
"Anacreon  a  poet  of  excellent  skill,"  19. 
Anacreon  in  Heaven.     See  ' ' To  Anacreon 

in  Heaven." 
"Anacreontic"  (in  J.  S.  Smith's  "Miscel- 
laneous collection"),  25,  54. 
The  Anacreonric  Society  (Dublin),  32. 
The  Anacreontic  Society,  London,  11,  12, 
13,  14,  15,  28-31  (history  and  descrip- 
tion), 34,  35,  39,  40,  43. 
"Anacreontic    Society"     (same  as   "To 

Anacreon  in  Heaven"),  32. 
"Anacreontic  Songs"  (Arnold),  19,  29,  59. 
The  Anacreontick  Song.     See  "To  Anac- 
reon in  Heaven." 
The  Analectic  Magazine,  83. 
Anonymous  music,  57-61. 
Antiquary  (author),  107. 
Appleton,  N.,  107. 
"Arethusa,"  17. 
Armistead,  Major,  66. 
Arnold,  Samuel,  10, 15, 19,  29,  48,  59,  100, 

102. 
Asoph,  84. 

Au^or,  copyright  term,  54. 
Ave  Maria  (magazine),  15. 
Baltimore  American,  65,  66,  70,  81. 
Baltimore  Musical  Miscellany,  63. 
Baltimore  Patriot,  65,  66. 
Banks,  L.  A.,  105. 


Bannister,  Charies,  29,  30,  34,  35. 

The  Banquet  of  Thalia,  34,  35. 

Bartlett,  H.  V.,  107. 

Bean(e)s,  Dr.,  66,  69,  70,  71,  72. 

Beef-steak  club,  29. 

Bellas,  31. 

The  Billington  Songster,  34. 

Bird  of  Birds,  83. 

Birge,  E.  B.,  101. 

Blake,  J.  H.,  16,  20,  22-27,  35,  36,  37, 

41^5,  48-55,  107. 
Book,  copyright  term,  54. 
"The  Boston  patriotic  song"    (same  as 

Adams  and  Liberty),  62,  63. 
Boston  Public  Libran,-,  41,  85. 
Boyce,  14,  16,  19. 
Boyle,  C.  A.,  98. 
"Brave  sons  of  Columbia,"  63. 
Brinton,  H.  F.,  105. 

" Britannia— To  Neptune  enthroned,"  10. 
Brown,  J.  D.,  105. 
Brown  and  Stratton,  19. 
Browne,  C.  A.,  107. 
Bruncken,  E.,  54. 
Bryant,  W.  C,  93. 
"The  Bullfinch,"  34. 

"Bumper(s)  Squire  Jones,"  17,46,50-51. 

"Bush  of  Boon,"  47. 
The  Busy  Bee,  35. 
Butterworth,  H.,  105. 

C,  J.,  10. 

"Calliope,"  11,  15,  34. 

"A  Canon  on  a  ground  bass,  real  London 
cries,"  (by  J.  S.  Smith),  49. 

Carey,  Matthew,  11,  16. 

Carpenter,  J.  C,  107. 

Chappell,  W.,  11-12,  15,  22,  24,  107. 

"Chearful  glee"  (by  J.  S.  Smith i,  60. 

Church  Music  (magazine^,  13,  15. 

Cist,  L.  C,  92. 

Clark,  Mrs.  V.E.,  100,  101. 

Coates,  H.  T.,  93. 

Cole,  R.  G.,  101. 

Ill 


112 


Index 


"A  collection  of  songs"  (PMla.,  1799),  62. 
Columbian  Anacreontic  Society,  15,  61. 
Columbian  Songster,  62. 
"Columbians  arise!  let  the  cannon,"  63. 
Composer,  copyright  term,  p.  54. 
Copyright  entry,  value  for  historical  pur- 
poses, 57-58. 
The  Coronet,  84. 

Cramer's  Magazin  der  Musik,  30,  31. 
Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern,  11, 12,  29,  32, 

39,  40. 
Cummings,  W.  H.,  12,  13,  14,  44-45,  107. 
D.,  C,  72. 
Dana,  C.  D.,  93. 
Daniell,  Carl  A.,  105. 
Dawson's  Historical  Magazine,  69. 
"Defense  of  Fort  M'(Mc)Henry,"  65,77, 

87. 
Dielman,  72,  86-88. 
Dobbin,  R.  A.,  91. 
Dorsey,  Mrs.  A.  H.,  69,  107. 
Durang,  Charles  and  Ferdinand,  70,  73, 

74,  75,  76,  77,  90. 
E.,  Brother  D.,  63. 
Edes,  Benj.,  70,  73,  76. 
The  Edinburgh  Musical  Miscellany,  11, 

35. 
Elson,  L.  C,  15,  35,  76,  105. 
"Embargo  and  peace,"  63. 
English  music  (Music    loan   Exhibition 

lectures),  12. 
The  Excelsior,  84. 
Eyster,  Mrs.  Nellie,  74. 
Farnsworth,  C.  H.,  98,  101. 
The  Feathers  and  Half-moon  Tavern,  31. 
Ferris,  M.  L.  D.,  105. 
The  Festival  of  Anacreon,  29,  34. 
Fielding's  "  An  old  man  taught  wisdom, ' ' 

47. 
"A  Fifth  book  of  canzonets"  (by  J.  S. 

Smith),  11,  12,  13,  15,  16,  18,  19,  22,  23, 

53-55,  61. 
"A  fig  for  Parnassus,"  21,  33,  38,  39. 
Fitz  &  Hall,  ed.  of  The  St.  Sp.  B..  85, 

PI.  XXIII-XXIV. 
Fitz-Gerald,  S.  J.  Adair,  105. 
Fitzpatrick,  J.  C,  65. 
Flood,  W.  H.  Grattan,  1^-18,  20,  21,  23, 

28,  32,  35,  44-45,  46,  47,  48-55,  107. 
"For  worms  when  old  Bibo,"  63. 
Foster,  William,  63. 
Foug(h)t,  H.,  12,  44-45. 
"The  Fourth  of  July,"  63. 


"The  frantic  lady"  (cantata),  25. 

"Freedom,"  63. 

Gannon,  Charles  E.,  83. 

Gantvoort,  A.  J.,  98,  100,  101. 

Gaynor,  J.  L.,  101. 

Gebhart,  D.  R.,  107. 

Geib  &  Co.'s  ed.  of  The  St.  Sp.  B.,  85, 

PI.  XXV. 
"  The  genius  of  France, "  26,  62. 
Gentleman's  Magazine,  31,  34. 
Gilchrist,  98. 
"God  save  the  King"  (as  cantus  fir  mua 

in  J.  S.  Smith's  Canon  in  Subdiapente), 

25,  49. 
Grove's  Dictionary  .  .  .  ,  12. 
Hagner,  A.  B.,  107. 
Hagner,  Ch.  V.,  78. 
"  Hail  Columbia, "  84. 
Hankey,  Sir  Rich.,  30,  61. 
"Hark!  The  Trumpet  of  War, "  63. 
Haydn,  15,  28. 
Hendon,  74,  75,  76. 
Henn,^  H.  T.,  15, 17, 18,  48-55,  56,  58,  59, 

107. 
Hensel,  W.  U.,  80. 
Higgins,  E.,  93,  107. 
Hill,  M.,  107. 
Hodgkinson,  John,  62. 
Holden,  Smollet,  15,  35. 
Holmes,  O.  W.,  96. 
Howard,  Mrs.  Ch.,  78,  91. 
Howe,  William,  63,  PI.  XII. 
Hoyt,  A.  H.,  92. 
Humbug  Club,  29. 
"The  Humming  Bird,"  34. 
Husk,  WiUiam  H.,  19. 
Incledon,  Charles  Benj.,  35,  41,  42. 
"Is  it  summer?"  25. 
"Jefferson  and  liberty,"  63. 
"Jefferson's  election,"  63. 
Jepson,  B.,  98. 
Johnson,  Helen,  105. 
Keim,  George,  73,  90, 91. 
Kelsey,  Mrs.  C.  B.,  101. 
Key,  Francis  Scott,  front.,  15,  24,  66,  67, 

68,  69,  70,  71,  72,  73,  75,  77,  78,  79,  80, 

81,  etc.,  to  103. 
Kidson,  F.,  10,  12,  21,  22,  23,  24,  34-35, 

41-15, 46,  53, 54,  55, 107. 
King,  H.,  107. 
Kinnear,  Wm.  B.,  108. 
"The  Knave's  necklace,"  57. 
Kobb4,  G.,  105. 


Index 


113 


Lawrence,  W.  J.,  34. 

Lee,  Anne,  13,  15,  16,  21,  23,  41-42,  PI. 

III. 
Leinard,  L.,  108. 
Levy,  Jefferson  M.,  72. 
London  Coffee  House,  29, 31,  32,  38,  39, 40. 
London  Cries  (worked  into  a  canon  by 

J.  S.  Smith),  49. 
London  Magazine,  34. 
London  Magazine  and  Monthly  Chronol- 
ogy (Dublin),  34. 
The  London  Musical  Museum,  35. 
Longman  &  Broderip,  11,  15,  41-45,  97. 

See  also -pi.  in  Appendix. 
Loomis,  John  T.,  81. 
Lossing,  B.  J.,  91,  108. 
"Lyre  and  Owl,"  12. 
McCarty,  W.,  105. 
McCauley,  Capt.,70,71. 
McConathy.O.,  100,101. 
McFarland,  Paddy,  74. 
Mackeson,  Ch.,  28. 

McLaughlin,  J.  Fairfax,  10-11,  98, 108. 
Mahar,  J.,  92. 

Maryland  Historical  Society,  66. 
"Masonic   ode  .  .  .  by  Mr.  Connel,"  35. 
Masonic    version    of    "To  Anacreon    in 

Heaven,"  15. 
Mead,  L.,  106. 
Metropolitan  Glee  Book,  84. 
Millet,  W.  E.,  85. 
"Monarchical"     origin     of     "The     Star 

Spangled  Banner,"  7-8. 
Moore,  P.,  106. 
Moore,  Sir  John,  30. 
Morris,  captain,  29. 
Mulis  {recte  Mulso),  15. 
Mulso,  15, 28, 31, 40. 
Music  Loan  Exhibition  (1904),  12. 
Musical  composition,  copyright  term,  54. 
Musical  Miscellany  (1786),  15,  34. 
Musical  Repository,  63. 
Musical  Times  (1896),  11. 
The  Musical  World  (magazine),  19. 
The  M>Ttle  and  the  Vine,  10. 
Nason,  E.,  10,93,  106. 
National  Education  Association's  version 

of  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  100- 
103. 
National  Song  Book,  63. 
National  Songster  (1814),  87. 
New  American  Songster,  83. 
"A  new  Anacreontic  Song,"  34. 
24115°— 14 8 


New  Nightingale,  84. 

The  New  Vocal  Enchantress,  34. 

New  York  Normal  School  Song  Book,  84. 

Nicholson,  Judge  J.  H.,  68,  69,  70,  78,  80, 

81,  86-88,  89. 
Nightingale,  63. 
Normal  Song  Book,  84. 
"Not  the  fictions  of  Greece,"  63. 
O'Carolan,  Turlough,  16,  17,  45,  50-51. 
"The  Occasional  Ode  for  1780,"  25. 
"O'er  the  forest  crowned  hills,"  63. 
"Of  the  victory  won,"  63. 
"  Oh!  dear  papa!  don't  look  so  grum,"  47. 
"Our  country's  efficiency,"  62. 
Paine,  Thomas  (Robert  Treat),  15,  16,  61, 

79. 
Parke,  W.  T.,  28. 
Peter,  Major,  67. 
The  Pliilharmonic,  84. 
Pinkerton,  W.,  10,  108. 
Plagiarism,  58. 
Pond,  Warren,  85. 
Post,  J.  E.  H.,  86,  89. 
Preble,  G.  H.,  69,  72,  75,  86,  87,  88,  90,  91, 

92,  95,  96,  106. 
Prior,  Matt.,  9,  10. 
Reddall,  H.  F.,  106. 

Report  on  the  Star  Spangled  Banner,  etc. 
(1909),  3,  7,  14-18,  22-24,  25,  65,  71. 

"  Return  blest  days"  (by  J.  S.  Smith),  56. 

Rhames,  E.,  23,  41-42,  PI.  IV. 

Rimbault,  E.  F.,  106. 

Ripley,  98. 

Roberts,  D.  E.,  66, 

Roberts,  John,  20. 

RoSewig,  A.  H.,  13,  21,  108. 

"Rowley's,"  21,  32,  38,  39,  40. 

Royal  Library,  Dublin,  34. 

The  Royalty  Songster,  34. 

Rush,  Benj.,  95. 

Saffell,  W.  T.  R.,  106. 

Salisbury',  St.,  10,  61,  108. 

Sands,  Samuel,  70,  71,  72,  76,  81-82,  88. 

"Satan's  visit  to  the  Jacobine  Club,"  10, 

Schell,  F.  H.,  109. 

Sedgwick,  34. 

"The  Seventh  star, "  109. 

Sewall,  Jonathan  Mitchell,  62. 

Shaw,  Elsie  M.,  100, 101. 

Shippen,  Mrs.  R.  L.,  78,  86, 88,  89,  90,  109. 

Shirley,  J.  B.,  98. 

"  Si  Deus  pro  nobis, "  25,  49. 

Siefert,  H.  0.,  98. 


114 


Index 


Skinner,  John  S.,  67,  68,  81,  82. 
"  A  slang  pastoral "  (by  R.  Tomlinson),  36. 
"  Sleep,  poor  youth, "  47. 
Smith,  E.,  98. 

Smith,  F.  S.  Key,  70-72,  76,  109. 
Smith,  Gertrude  Stafford,.  19. 
S[mith],  Jack,  31,  47. 
Smith,  John  Stafford,  9,  IT,  12,  13,  14,  15, 
16,  17,  18,  19,  20,  21,  22-24,  25,  26,  45- 
63! 
Smith,  Nic,  106. 
"The  Social  Club,"  63. 
The  Songster's  Companion,  83. 
The  Songster's  Magazine,  83. 
The  Songster's  Miscellany,  83. 
The  Songster's  Museum,  83. 
Sonneck,  0.  G.,  13-18,  49-55,  71,  72,  106. 
"  Sons  of  Columbia,  "63. 
The  Soul  of  Harmony,  35. 
Sousa,  J.  P.,  93,  98,  106. 
"  Spain, "  62. 

Spenser,  the  younger,  Edmund,  29. 
Spofford,  A.  R.,  93,  106. 
Spowers,  G.,  95-96. 
Squire,  W.  Barclay,  43. 
Stainer, -Sir  J.,  21. 
Stanfield,  J.  F.,  63. 

"The   Star   Spangled   Banner,"    65-103 
See  also  Introductory  remarks. 
Additional  stanzas,  95-96. 
Air  of.     See  "To  Anacreon  in  Heav- 
en." 
Autographs,  Key's,  88-92. 
Bibliography.     See    Literature    used 

for  this  report,  105-109. 
Broadsides,  early,  69,  70,  71,  72,  73, 

76,  82,  85-88. 
Composer.     See    "To    Anacreon    in 

Heaven, "  composer. 
Congress  and  the  St.  Sp.  B.,  72. 
Date  of  origin,  66. 
Differences    in    melody,    96-103;  in 

text,  86,  89,  93-95,  100. 
Early   appearances   in    song    collec- 
tions, 83-85. 
Editions  (early),  65,  66,  83-85,  86-88. 
Esthetic  merits,  65. 
Facsimiles,  89-92,  PI.  XIII-XXV. 
First  accounts  of,  65,  66-69. 
First   mentioned   under  its   present 

title,  77. 
First  printed,  65,  66-69,  72,  76,  81-82, 

83,  86-88. 
First  published  under  this  title,  83. 


■  The  Star  Spangled  Banner" — Contd. 
First  publisher,  65,  66. 
First  sung,  70,  73,  74,  77. 
First  text,  65,  66. 
Melody  of.     See    "To    Anacreon    in 

Heaven." 
National  Anthem,  72. 
National  song,  merits  as,  65,  95,  96. 
Origin  of  music.     See  "To  Anacreon 

in  Heaven." 
Origin  of  text,  65-69. 
Original  manuscript,  73,  78,  88-90. 
Popularity,  early,  70,  71,  76,  82,  83-85. 
"Singable."     Efforts    to    make    the 
melody  uniformly  and,  20, 100-103. 
Standardization  of  melody,  96-103. 
Taney's  account,  66-69,  77,  88,  89, 

109. 
' '  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven . ' '     See  this 
for  historj'  of  the  tune.     For  the 
selection  of  the  tune  for  the  St.  Sp. 
B.  see  66,  70,  71,  73,  74-76,  77-81. 
Tune    of.     See    "To    Anacreon    in 
Heaven." 
The  Star  Spargled  Banner  (songster),  83. 
"Stay,  Shepherd,  Stay,"  47. 
Stedman,  E.  C,  93. 
Stevenson,  E.  I.,  106. 
Stewart's  Vocal  Magazine,  35. 
Strype,  11. 

Tammany  Society,  63. 
Tapper,  Th.,  98,  101. 
"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  chapter  on, 
9-63. 

American  history,  15,  46,  62-G3.    See 
also  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner" 
chapter. 
American  origin,  10-11,  24,  26. 
Anonymously  published,  57-61. 
Author,  11,  14,  21,  27,  31,  32-35,  36. 
Bibliographical  histon,-,  32-35,  40-45, 

62-63. 
Bumper,  Squire  Jones.     See  this. 
Characteristics,  15,  17,  27,  50,  56. 
Charter  song  of  the  Anacreontic  So- 
ciety.    See  the  latter. 
Composer,  9,  10,  11,  12,  14-18,  21,  27, 

36,  45-63. 
Copyright  entry,  12,  22,  23,  52,  53-55, 

57-59. 
Criteria  for  dating  undated  eds.,  39- 

41,44-45. 
Date  of  copyright  entry,  16. 


Index 


115 


"To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  chapter  on — 
Continued. 

Earliest  appearance  of  music  in  print, 

40-45. 
Earliest  appearance  of  words  in  print, 
32.     See  also  The  Vocal  Magazine. 
Earliest  publication,  11,  14-18,  21, 

32,  4(M5,  59. 
Editions,  11,  12,  13,  15,  16,  21,  23. 

34-35,  41-45,  62-63. 
English  origin,  16,  24.     See  also  John 

Stafford  Smith. 
Facsimiles,  PI.  I-IX,  XI.     See  also 
■'Adams  and  Liberty"  and  "The 
Star  Spangled  Banner." 
French  origin,  26. 
Glee,  arranged  as,  16,  18,  22,  24,  53- 

55,  58. 
Internal  evidence,  56. 
Irish  origin,  7,  8,  9,  15-18,  24,  26,  35, 

42,  50-51.     See  also  O'Carolan. 
Masonic  words,  15. 
Monarchical  origin,  26. 
Origin,  7,  8,  9,  10,  11,  12,  13,  14-18, 

23,  36,  37,  40,  42,  50-51. 
Original  and  amended  text,  16,  21, 

37^0. 
Parodies,  etc.,  10,  29,  34,  35,  62-63. 
Popularly  known  as  "The  Anacreon- 

tick  Song, "  55-56. 
Texts,  11,  29,  31,  32,  34-35,  38,  39-45. 
"To  banish  life's  troubles,"  34. 
"To  Columbia,  who  gladly  reclin'd,"  62, 

63. 
"To  Neptune  enthroned,"  10. 
"To  old  Hiram,  in  Heav'n,"  35. 
"To  old  Satan  in  Hell,"  10. 
"To  the  Gods  who  preside, "  62. 
"To  the  hiU  of  old  Lud, "  21,  33,  38,  39. 
"To  the  lame  old  Gold-smith, "  29. 
Tomlinson,  Ralph,  11,  12,  21,  31,  32-35, 

36,  38,  39,  40,  41^5,  46,  47,  55. 
Travers,  John,  10. 
The  Ugly  Club,  29. 
Uneda,  9,  109. 


"Union  and  liberty,"  63. 

"Union  of  the  gods, "  62,  63. 

Universal  Melodist,  10. 

The  Universal  Miisician,  84. 

Universal  Songster,  9,  10. 

The  Vocal  Companion  (1796),  16,  62,  63. 

Vocal  Enchantress,  16,  21,  34,  97. 

Vocal  magazine  (1778,  etc.),  9,  12,  15,  16, 

20,  32,  37,  38. 
The  Vocalist's  Pocket  Companion,  84. 
Walters,  Henry,  86,  89. 
Walworth,  Father  Clarence,  56. 
Warner,  John  L.,  73,  77,  80,  109. 
Warren;  eleventh  Coll.  of  catches,  47. 
Warren;  thirtieth  Coll.  of  catches,  43. 
Warrington,  James,  45. 
Washington  National  Intelligencer,  83. 
Washington  Sunday  Morning  Chronicle, 
69. 

Wayne,  F.,  106. 

"Well  met,  fellow  free  men,  "63. 

West,  J.,  62. 

"When  Bibo  went  down, "  9,  63. 

"\Mien  Bibo  thought  fit,"  9,  10. 

"WTien  our  sky  was  illuminated,  "63. 

^\^lite,  Miss  Constance  H.,  39,  60. 

WTiite,  R.  G.,  106. 

Whiting,  C.  E.,  98. 

Wilcox,  M.,  109. 

Woolbridgre,  H.  E..  12.      ♦ 

X.,  11,  12,  109. 

"Yankee  Doodle,"  14,  17. 

"Ye  mortals  whom  trouble, "  19. 

,•  Ye  seamen  of  Columbia, "  83. 

"Ye  sons  of   Columbia,   determined   to 
keep, "  62. 

••Ye  sons  of  Columbia,  unite  in  the  cause," 
62. 

"Ye  Sons  of  Columbia  who  bravely  have 
fought,  "62. 

•Ye  sons  of  Columbia,  who  cherish  the 
prize,"  63. 

•Young  Bibo,"  63. 

Young  Folk's  Glee  Book,  84. 

Zeiner,  E.  J.  A.,  98. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


star  Spangled  Banner. 


The    ANACREONTIC 


pntron  woifld      be 


FROM  JOHN  STAFFORD  SMITH'S  "FIFT 


SONG 


harmoaiied  ty  the  Aufhc 


53 


from   the       jol.ly     ol.i     GrPci'n 


JOOK  OF  CANZONETS."  LONDON  [1799]. 


TITLE-PAGE  OF  JOHN  STAFFORD  SMITH'S  IF 


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IFTH   BOOK  OF  CANZONETS,"  LONDON  [1799]. 


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[336] 

3  o  N  c;     crw  II. 

I  o  .\::aacon,  :u  ii.,v'n,  uhe:.;  he  f^t  in  full  gkt', 
1- 


i!.oirin-f|ir-crr.nd  patron  would  be;  when  this 
ani\vcrar-;k-'arrcn  (Ik- j\,Mv  old  Grecian—"  Voi-o 

iiiiiiiiiiii 

fiddle,  and  flute,    no    longer    be  mute,    I'll  knd 
you  my  name  aTd  inipire  you  to  boot ;  and,  bef/d"^, 


I'll  inftrud  you  like  j^e 


to  ia.  f.vinc  the  myrtle  of 
Venus 


'TO  ANACREON    IN   HEAVEN,"  FROM  "1; 


Venus  with  Bac  -  chcs's   vine,  and,  befides,  I'll 


p^^ 


ftruft  YOU  like  mc  lo  intwinc  the  myrtle   of  Venus 


iiii^; 


with    Bacchub's  vine. 


The  news  through  Olymptis  imTnediately  A^vv  ; 

When  old  Thunder  pretended  to  ^ve  hijnfclf  airs-* 
^'  If  thefe  mortals  arc  fufFer'd  their  TcUcmf^  to  purlue, 
««  The  devil  a  goddcfs  will  ftay  above  ftairs. 
"   Hark!  already  the)rcry^  ^' ^  '   ^ 
«'  In  tranfjpotts  of  joy,\    '        \.»  „ 
"  Awavto  the  fons  of  Anacrebn  "^cMl  fl}',  .        . 

'  And  there,  with  good  fellows,  we'll  learn  to  mlwinft 
-  The  myrtle  of  Venus  with  Bacchus'^  vlhe. 

*<  The  yellow-hair'd  God  pnd  his  ninp  fully  maid., 

«•  From  Helicon's  banks  will  incontineni  tlce, 
*'  IdaThi  win  bpaft  bat.<»f  tenantlefs  iha<ks, 
«♦  And  the  bi-forked  hiU  a'mere  4erarl  wi^l  ^e. 
'  «'.'  My  thunder,  np  fe^r  oiCt,  » 

i"   SKall.foon  do  I^^#rra»d,  ,;.„„• 

*'  And,  dam'mt- 1  I'll  (v^'inge  tTie  ringleaders,  T  warranty 
."  riTf  im  thic  young  dogs..  f(^  tiiiiadir.ii;^;Qltwiflfi^i^  - 
^  TJi^mvnlc  of  Veaus  with  ^acchasH  vuTt.^    r     ■    . 


^S 


L  .A    'Apollo 


T.  VOCAL  ENCHANTRESS,"  LONDON,  1783. 


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star  spangled  Banner. 


AXAC^llE  (XNTIC  BONO 
^ — -^^       ^^  tbc  (MotW  bi)  O^  o 

'^lly4Lrn  ^/7)AJLL  \  '^'OX £/f/'/ff/^(''l\c/My?/  n^^^iat SOCIETY. 


\J_^(>\\^'^^fyjflut/,(//vZoMrMcui !rBroJfrt))^S.'''26&„a^u,'(/^-  '  ^^^'i^' 


THE  ORIGINAL  LONGMAN  &  BRODERIP.  25  CHEA' 


Chorus. 


* ,       »  And       be fides     I'n 


-ftrnct  yoB  lite  mc  to         ea. 

Aud       be f,d«      I'll       m.ftract  you  like  irfe  to          en.l 

Aiid       be rides      I'll       in.fttoct  ^u  like  me  to 

Aiid       be fide»      I'U       in-ftroct  yoo  like 


.US       with  Bac.CHVS'..s  Vine. 

2.  4. 

Tlie  news  throngh  Olymujs  ijnm.-.liHtoly  flew;  ^OLLO  rofe  np;  and faid,"Pr>ythee  ue'er  quarrel, 

^^When  OLD  Tut-NDER.  prif  tended  to  give  hinifeliAir»J^Good  King  of  the  God»,  with  my  Vot'rie*  below: 
^^ir  thefe  Mortals  are  f-.iffer'd  their  Scheme  to  perfue^Yonr  Thunder  is  ufelefs-then,  fhewiug  his  Laurel, 
Tlie  l>>;vll  a  Goddefs  will  ftay  above  Stairs  .  Cry'd.lSic  n-iiaHUfulniit,  yoo  know  I 

Hark!  already  they  cry,  "Then  over  each  Head 

'InTranfiJortsof  Joy,  "My  I^aineUI'U  fpread;  dread 

■'Away  to  the  Sons  of  AnAOlUSOll  wt'll  fly,  ^So  my  Sons  from  your  Crackers  uoXnfrhieffliall' 

And  there,with  good  V.-Uows,  we'll  learn  to  intwiae  IVhilft  fnog  in  their  Club.Room  they  joviaDy  twine 
"The  Mvrtle  of  VCNVS  with  BaccHCS's  Vine.  "The  Myrtle  of  VekvS  with  Bacch'vs'S  Vine. 

__ThL'  YEi.Low.nAiR'D  God  and  his  nine  fofty  Maids,     Next  MoMOS  got  up,  with  his  riCble  Phix, 

Kroni  Helicon^  Banks  will  incontinent  flee,  And  (Vrore  with  AtOLLO  he'd  chearfuUy  join. 

l^lDALIA  will  boaft  bat  of  tenantlefs  Shades,  "The  full  Tide  of  Harmony  ftiU  fhaU  be  his, 

"Audthi-  hi. forked  Hill  a  mere  Defart  will  be  "BattheSong,and  theCatch,&theLaaghfliaUbemine 
'"My  Thunder,  no  fear  on'l,  "Then,  JOVE,  be  not  jealous 

J        "Shall  foon  do  it'5  F.rrand,  "'Of   thefe  honeft Fellows.  ^, 

"Andtdatrfrae;  I'll  fwinge  theRingleaders,!  warrant,     CryVi  JOiVE,"We  relent, fukce  theTrothyon  now  tell 

Ijl'll  trim  the  young  Dogs.for  thus  daring  to  twine  'And  fwear,byOu>  STYX,  that  they  longfhalliutwine 

Tlo  Myrtle  of  Vevvs  with  BACCHUs'is  Vine.  "The  MyrUe  of  Vekvs  with  Bacchus'*  Vine . 

6 

Ye  fans  of  ANACKEOK,thon,joiuHa4idinHand., 
Preferre  Unanimity, Friendfhip,a3d  Love. 
Tis  yout's  to  ftipport  what's  fo  happily  plann'd; 
You've  the  Sanction  of  Gods ,  and  t'.ie  FlAT  of  Jon. 

While  thus  wc  agree. 

Our  Toaft  let  it  be. 
May  onr  Club  flonrifli  happy,  united,  and  freel 
And  long  niaj  the  Sons  of  AwACH^os  intwine 
The  Myrtle  of  Vewws  with  Bacchus's  Vine. 


DE   ISSUE  OF  "THE  ANACREONTIC  SONG"  [178-]. 


► 


I 


star  Spangled  Banner. 


'A'.//JV/  Vo.uz/.  I  -SOX y:xn»  A,/, /yr/^,/ry,.y ,y ■;];,,/  \or.//r/) 


^^mm^^^ 


^mrmmm 


i.R.r      be 


THE  LATER  LONGMAN  &  BRODERIP,  26  CHEAPSIDE  ANI 


<^ 


Chorus. 


m^^^^m^Mmm^^^,^^^ 


■1..  Ir..i.l|>orU,  o(  Jo> 
t     u.r  Soiib  cf  .«SACj<i;ON     v.'ll  f.i, 
..    .  ■'  .  rc.Niil'  K"»l  KiUow»,w,'ll  I.  ..r..  I     .  • 
11-        l>ia     of    VtNUS  Willi  b,itClil!>N    \n 

"T!..- Y^LH.W-i.  .Ia'd  cod  jiuI  ill-.  MM.  'u!l 

',',-.>ni  akUCOK'S    Hillk>  Mill -I... II'.; t  fj. 

''l...>LIA    A.lll.o.rt  l.«l..(  Ui.Ji.ll.l.  Sl.4.i.», 
•^v.,1  •:..:,>.-forl...:HiUj.mr.  E.farlvill  !• 
"Mv  TUuiil.r  no  f>..r  ..i.'t, 
"SI.U  r.  (.11  do  id  Krr  ..id, 
\U....uaii.>i>.t  I  I'll  ^Wmp--  t;.,  •»i,.pl...«l.  r^  ) 
■■'I'U  -rim  lilt  y.„  i.g  Di<);s,f..r  ilms  d  iruip  In  i 

Tl,.    Mjrtl.    nf  ▼tja*  .^  iU.   IIACCIILS'S    V  jl 


•         ■   imI  laid,   Pr»y'Ao«MArqtt»rre*, 
,1.   nitl.  uiy  Vot'rMf  bclo«-T 
1.  I.&  ..il..ii,nir«iiinU»  Ljurui, 
,1.  fulf.tti,  joo  know  I 
1,,,..     ...r  ..-jcli  H..4d 
.  "J,    L.ur.l.I'Ufprwd 

Sd  HI)  Sums  froinyoiirlrjdi.r.  .mo  Mifdii.  rOi.:!  d.- 
•  "Wl.iUt.ii.-igiu  ill.  irtlllb-ft,<,ii..ai>j  JoM  Mt  i.-.i  . 
I'Ti.i   MyrU.-  of  VtSVS   .ill.  M.itUl^S   \  :...  . 

Next  M<.VIS  ROt  u|.  •ill.  liis  r-r.;,i.  Pl.ii, 
.\i..llVor.  mil.  .V^OIXOhi'UI.^jrfiill  join - 
"Tl...-  fi.li  Ti Jf  of  H .rii.oi.y  Hill  n..i)  be  Iiii . 

"rtUltll>.'Sol>(^,.i..d  llii:C:adyv.ai>.'LwgbUi:allicl.lil.i 

*'II.  1^,  JOV*;,l<i  i.ot  jcaipa» 
".,f  il.^lV  li.ji..rt  KUo«>, 
I    CryM   J«vE,"«.r.l..,t,ri:ui  I".    T1-inh><Ji  now  iilln 
j  ".\l.d  f'voi.r.h)  OLD  ST-V-V,ili.A  tl..  V  Inop;  fi:..  I  ii.l.,1,., 
TheMyrU..  ofVBja^wul.  BAtCIt-S-.s  \  .„<  . 


v.-  Sons  of  an.>CR..-.OK,i1j»ii  joiiiHiudinHM 
VT<Ut\^\  n..m.i.it},Kri.,mllVi|i,jnil  Lore! 
■Ti>  ,o!ir»»  to  fm-ii.  ri  .vli..tM"ob»p|Mly  |>l.i"i:' 
V.o'.^lli.  Salirl.oi.  ..f  Gu.;.,;.n 
Vt'liili    lliii-  ««■  .Kr,-, 


■  tliil.  flolirHI. 


ii.it. 


T  of  JOVK, 
lid  fr.c! 


HAYMARKET  ISSUE  OF  "THE  ANACREONTIC  SONG"  [178-]. 


Star  Spangled  Banner 


T  VrL    A  M  EH  I  C  AN 


r-v^^-T#-*^^-»^-^ 


:g:crt:t:t=£ 


tr  L — tH"" — t"! — i 


jl^iPplilliiii 


>  ^c       fons  of  Co  -  lum  -  bia,    who     bravely 

Y   have  fought,  For  thofe  rights,  which  unftain'd  from 


PAINE'S  "ADAMS  /, 


MUSICAL    M  I  S  C  E  L  L  A  N  V. 


^:d::i=r=^r:gzTz~rzr?5r!^r:rr 

^        your      Sires    had       dc  -  fccnd  cd.    May  you 
^         long   u.le   the    He  (Ting*     your     valour      has 

[liiiEiPJiPpi^ill 

^    bought,  And  your  fons  r<'ap     tlic    foil,which  you 


^  fathers         defended,         Mid  the   reign  of 


I  ijE  jre^zpziq:±zdiz; 


LIBERTY."  1793. 


star  Spangled  Banner. 


26 

Hard,  hard  is  my  fate!  oh,  how  galling  iny  char.. 

My  life's  stcer'd  by  iniscry'.s  chart — 
And  'tho  'gainst  my  tyraiits  I  scorn  to  complain^ 

Tcar.s  gii.sh  forth  to  ease  my  sad  heart  : 
I  di.sdalne'en  to  shrink,  tho*  I  feel  t'le  .sharp  lash; 

Yet  my  breast  bleeds  for  her  I  adore  ; 
While  round  mo  the  unfeeling  billows  will  dash, 

I  sigh! — ^and  still  tug  at  the  oar. 

How  fortune  deceives! — I  had  pleasure  in  tow. 
The  port  where  she  dwelt  we'd  in  \'lew ; 

But  the  wi«sh'd  nuptial  morn  was  o'erclouded  with 
And,  dear  Anne,  I  hurried  from  you.       [woe. 

Our  shallop  was  boarded,  and  I  borne  away. 
To  hchold  my  lov'd  Anno  no  more! 

But  (lispair  wastes  my  spirits,  my  form  feols  decay- 
He  sigh'd — and  expir'd  at  the  oar! 


ANACREON   IN  HEAVEN. 

To  Anatifj!!  in  Hcav'ii  wheiehe   -^at  in  (a^ 


5ICC,  A   few  sons     of  hariijony  sent   a  petition  , 


FROM   "BALTIMORE  MU 


'i'li.il    lie    their   iiisplrcr   and    pritroM    wuuld    l).\ 


l-:cv   an:!    pritroM    wuuld    I).-, 

x- — 2_! — V — [ — k^ic-r — tf-.j_ 

\v}nMUliis;iii^u'rraiTlvM  rio'iulu-  jollvu!  ?  C  c c!;,:; : 


A'oicc  fiddle  an  '   llntc  no   loM-vr    !>  •    My;:'.-,    I";! 


Jcixd  you  my  name    luid    inspire  you   to   boot 


Urn: 


'Aiul    bcsiflfs  rilJ!)  tnict  vow  liii<?i>  -  to  .•  itaia 


mm 

Aiul     bcsidrs  n 

piiiiiiiSiHii 

'Ihr  Myrtle  o*'  \'«Mius  '.viih  Bacchns'sVi.ie 

'i  '••^  ••"■■>  ili.i'u^li  (yiyin-ju..  io.ii.c-.iuacly  flew, 
Whrii  old  Thunder    pretcDtcd  to  ijivc  liii/i.v  '^ 


AL  MISCELLANY,"  1804. 


star  Spangled  Banner. 


ADAMS  A  V  V  1,  !  B  K  R  T  Y 
Tlic  B  often  Pal  rlolic  Song 


W.  HOWE'S  EDITION  (1798?; 


ln^,-tio<-,»horeric»n!i!fsf<>cd  ymartsof  the  fcrrlcf 
Whoff  Oiorf V  are  unfhtken  by  Rnropi-s  rryrmorion . 
fheTrMeni  of  rommprff  OiouH  n<^Tr  b»  li^rlif 
To  •r.c«ir»«helef:itimHi(.  powers  ofthpcww; 
Bin  Oould  fimtfi  iriTaa-, 
Though  jp  Thunder  Hrrny'H  , 
1.»f  your  C«nron  detlHrethefree  Choner  of  TraJe^ 
For  n.vr  n,B|1  tke  Ton',  of  COLUMRI A  b*  f  J»»e4, 
WH !e  the  e»rth  bests  «  plmitpr  the  Tm  roMi  its wxtei 

J 
Tr  ••  r.re  of  OUT  lirois.ofoiif  !ii»s  tVe  ti'M  f-A:,,, 

Hr4<|  (ufily  enob!e<J  OUT  nxtjon  in  ftory. 
Tillth-  l.rielouds'.r  F:.etion  ol:rcur'do,.ryr,„n,;d^, 
An  lirt'lopM  the  fun  of  ATserican  ftory . 
'■It    hi  Trxitor*  be  told, 
\no  their  Country  »i»f  e  fold  , 
An  !  burter'd  their  God  forhi>  im:'.f;>-  in  fold 
T^M  n,>Vf»!Mth.,  foM,  iVc. 


■urp;(rri-.iv  deTtroy  AnnrcTiJ p^ftilent  vorm, 

t  0111  Librrty's  growth  Hotild  bechedt'd  by  for 

rhen  let  clouds  thicken  around  us.ire  heed  not  fftorm 

Our  rex!-.  rr;,rsnonioct  but|-e»rt!i?c»n  eTpIoflnn 

Fo-i  :.(t«il  us  in  Taih  , 

•nioii.h  their  rtF.EtS  bridfethe  mKin 

fForour  M,»r.  Vt.h-«s  with  our  lives  ve'lhm»int,in. 

r.-Vr    ill.hefons&re. 


hile  Knince  h-r  hi.-^-e  lirrl  s  ba«h.is  recuT)bfr«in  blnn 
indrociety'i  b!irethr(>a.s«ith»irf.-dirrolution, 
:•  pe:)celiletheDoie,.horetumd  from  the  flood. 
;nd  mi  Arlof  »bodrinourmiMrONSTlTrT10i>( 
But  though  pp,,cei<  our  Aim, 
VettheboonwedifrI»iin, 
')..Kh<yithourSov'RF,rG\Ty.inSTICEorFA.MF 
n.<.r»!llthefor-vSre. 
5 
the  fire  ofthe  flint  exrh  A-neric.n  warns. 
.et  Fonie's  h«d|hiy  Victors  ke»are  of  col!ifion  , 
tHem  brin^  n  1  theVKff,!,  of  Furopc  in  irms, 
>re  eWorld  by  ourfelTej  a-difdnin  r  .llTifion ; 
Whilewith  patriot  pride. 
To  ourUtcs  xe're  allied, 
:  for  CKn  fubduc  us  no  fi<«tion  divide, 
r  ne'er  rhHiUhefon»8r<-. 


Ourvounn.ins  urecTovn'dwiihimpifrial  0»v  , 

Wiofe  roots  Ii»f  our  liberties ,»^;^sfc,y,„,u,ifh'j 
Bui  lone  e'er  ournation  fubroits  tc  the  yoke^ 

I  «  tree  fh;,!!  be  left  en  the  field  where  it  flourinil 
S!^-  oM  inTifion  impend. 
Every  frore  ♦oulj  defcend  , 
n  ihr  hill  tops  they  fhaded  o^.r  Chores  to  defend; 
ne'er  ■lilhhercni  8r» . 


d  Should  <h.-,rTperi  of  WAPoverTi  n  'o'*  -yr  l..rd, 
fts  bolts  could  ne'er  ren«  Treedo^'s  teirplnrrunder, 
Forunmov'd,;ii  its  port:.lwouWWASHlNGTOvr..:,nd 
!  rppel  with  his  broart.thetitttitsofyThunder 
His  fword  from  t.Y.t  n  wp. 
Of  its  sc.ibbsrd  «ouIdIe»p, 
And  eond.iet.vitfc  it,  point  tVety  fl,!>  tothedeep . 
ne'er*iiltV.crons8r..- 
« 

Let  Fime  lotht  vorld  foun  I  \-neric»'s  ^oiee, 
No  Intrifue  can  her  Tons  fro  :  theifcoternTient  fe^er 
Her  pride  is  her  ADAMS  _  Us  laws  iteher  choice, 
.ndrhallflourifhtill  LI BFKtYfIu»ber  forever. 
Then  unit«,he«rt  and   k»nd, 
Like Leonidas' bind, 
AndTwearto  theOODofihe    eceanand  land; 
That  ne'er  itill  the  foni  of  COLUMBIA  beflares, 
While, he  earth  bean  »  pUntorthefea  rolls  itsw«Te 


i-'w  YORK  FriniedSfSc 


I  by  w-HOWK  Or 
ii'i  Z'lO   IV- .1 


rv  Importer  of  alUinds  of  Mun^llnftnimenu 


F  "ADAMS  AND   LIBERTY." 


■1 5 --  a  ' 


f^M^|lli=ii|ll!    i 


.    >    s  =-a -2  JC  «- ^  tf -^^/^^ 


fill        if         : 

-i  ^  I  ^'~   «?•'' 

-      ^  E  fee »    -r 


"  oj  C  "*=  ^  3  rf,  ■ 

5  A  -o  *  J  o  f  ^; 

.  *  -  5  "2  *  J  '" 

ss  9  *•■'!«  i!  at  *  f. 


■^ 


Ill    i    Si 

«  «  S  3  ^    -  Sf  ^ 


ill 


<=  3-2 


5t    Si®   -  S 


§•0  m'a  ""o 
C  <=  SJ  -»        I 

•S  H  s  ?  c  - 


5~ 


"r^ 


Ik 


^   -^ 


>.^^    :r    ' 


rs 


^^^Iiw^ 


^  V 


^ 


,i  I 


'■^"^^^T 


>5 


i^^ 


l^}y-. 


hrht 


^ 


star  Spangled  Banner 


eP'^^  ytcXifiir,^,  ^^^  S-OL^^.    -^^..^^^^   t^    n^  .^^  ^  -^     i4i>E_^ 

^  .CA^,4^_^  x^c:d__^^  ^.^i^^U^ 


THE  KEIM   AUTOGRAPH  (CA.  1842),  IN   POSSESSIO  if 


PLATES  XVII-XVIII. 


5 


F  THE  PENNSYLVANIA   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


'^^ 


:y^:  ^' 


^  i    I   I 


,'i 


Y 

"«=> 


j^ 


4 


^'; 


M 1  .;- 

i    i   ^  '  ^   i  ^^  K 


] 


i' 


kii 


star  Spangled  Banner. 


Nc 


rtn  JT-: 


^    ^ 


12.-THE  STAR-SPA 


■<r  ^#' 

j  O.  say.  can  yon  pee,      by  the  dawn's  ear-ly   ]ia 

I  Whose  broail  stripes  and  bright  stars. thro'  the  perilous  fig 
^    \      On  the  shore  (iini-ly  soen    thro' the  mists  of   the   de 
~"  I    Vv'as  it  that  \vhich  the  breeze  o'er  the  to\v-er  -  ing  swi 
(        Auj  \vliere  is   that  band,  who   so  vaunt-ing-ly   sw 
/        A       home  aud    a     coun-lry  should  leave  us  no  mo 


ee 


And  the    rock  -  et's  red  glare,  And  bombs  bursting  in 
Now  it      ratch  -  es  the  gleam  Of    the    morn-ing's  first 
No         ref- uce  could  save      The        hire  -  lin^  and 


i/z:^: 


mm 


Chorus. 


i: 


O,  say,  docs  the  st.ar-spaii-g;led  ban-ner  yet  '  •« 
'Tis  the  star-spangled  ban  -  ner,  O,  long  may  'it  w 
And  the  star-spangled  ban  -  ner     in        triumph  doth   w 


FROM  THE  "NEW  YORK  I 


LED  BANNER-CHORUS. 


J  What  so    proudly  we      hailed  at  the    twilight's  last  gleaming, 

SOer  the  ramparts  we  watched,  were  so  gal  -  lant-ly  streaming; 

9  Where  the  foes  haughty    host    in  dread  si  -  lence  re  -  pos-es, 

As     it       fit  -  ful-ly      blows,  half  con-ceals,  half  dis-cios  es  ; 

That  the  hav  -  oc  of        war,    and  the    bat-tie's  con  -  f u  -  sion, 

Their      blood  has  washed  out  their  foul  footsteps'  pol  -  lu  -  tion. 


Jtit: 


:t!t 


-^h 


z^zbtz*^- 


Gave  proof  thro'  the  night  that  our    flag  was  still    there. 

In  full  glo  -  ry    re  -  fleet  -  ed    now  shines  on  the  stream  : — ■ 

e  From  the  terror  of   flight,  or    the  gloom  of  the  grave : 

^~-0—Mr-  -— ■     ,P 


'(   MAL  SONG  BOOK."  1851. 


star  Spangled  Banner. 


STAR   SrABI 


^^ 


F^=^; 


^ 


1.     0,      s&j,  an  you         see,      by    the  daw^n's  ear  -  ly  light, 
Whose  stripes  and  bright  stars,  thro' the      per  -  il-ousnigat, 

3^ 


^ 


--i»- 


^a 


2.     On  the  shore  dimly        seen,    thro'  the   mists    of    the    deep. 
What     is     that  which       the  breeze,  o'er    the    towering  steep. 


qp:: 


e£ 


-^— ^- 


ig 


[i^izz: 


¥=1^ 


::^3: 


f= 


1.  And  the      rock-et's     red  glare, — the  bombs  bursting      in        a: 


3_.a     P 


^ 


2.  Now    it      catch  -  es     the     gleam     of     the    morn-ing's  first     bea 

-±    X-     ^     ^  ^  -rh  " 


I_IIL 


X 


:5    ?~~.y 


151 


FROM   "FILLMORE'S  NEW  NIGHTINGALE 


ON  A  MATHEM 


[.ED   BANNER. 


American  Sonq. 


TT^-— I 1 s— ±- 


i — b 


W — 3' — 3 


fi 


J 


1 


•t  BO   proud -ly      we  hail'd  at      the     twilight's    last      gleam-ing; 
r  the    ram-parts   we  watch'd,  were  so  gal  -  lant  -  ly       stream-ing? 


^■'■W-. 


feSi 


-3'-_it- 


Kttethe  foe's  haughty    host,     iii  dread    si  -  lence      re      - 
it        fit  -  ful  -  ly  blows,  half  cou  ceals,  half     dis     - 

po  -  8es, 
clo  -  Bes; 

o 

1         ^          ■  5'     5       5    ■     i                   5 

i         ■)   .  L 

i      1      1 ,  ■  1      i             r  ■  a    ■  1 

'      i  'T 

tr: 

.  JL'_1_JL    '     ^    J 1      1          I 

i-H- 

•J. 

E 


-^ — ^- 


3E33«=E- 


-a— ^ 


^ave    us       proof  thro'  the     night,  that  our      flag   was   still     there. 


? 


In     full       glo  -  ry      re    -    fleet  -  ed,  now    shines  in     the     stream. 


EF=?33E5 


i£d£ 


'^^ 


xz.-g. 


ICALLY  CONSTRUCTED  PLAN  OF  NOTATION,"  CINCINNATI.  1857. 


star  Spangled  Banner. 


»3         {WUh  ^jHyft.]  STAR  8PA 


SAT,  c:m  you  see,   by  the 
)ai1  »tri[)osuinl  bright  stars  ihro 


{  1    OI  SAT,  csn  you  see,   by  the  Ja 

I       Am. — Whoso  Wroail  stripes  uinl  bright  stars  ihrougl 

!  2  On  tho       shore  iJiniiy   seen  throu;;h  the 

I  \\'liat  is  tlial  which  the  brcezo,  o'er  l\ 

lilEilgiSili: 


re: 


!   twili^lil  s  last  rrl'"'!!!""^.    /    »     1    1  I       '11 

I  ,,     .     1     ^  ^  ,>  And  the  rocket*  red  s'are. 

I       gnllaul  -  ly  itiLamiuyt  S  ° 

;rti[==_'JBr;;zzi=-rr;:t±zc:zb:t:zz 

RJlfu'e     ri-  -  ii.M-,fs.        /      >-         •                 ,          .         , 
CuS    !  ail  ,l',r|„M  s  1   S     -^'^'^' ''      catches  (he  gl.'am  ■ 
■■'•'■'•        '■■>-'•>'=■  -fc— k^ k^      -fit 


FROM   "THE  VOCALIST'S  POCKET  COM  PANION,"  CHAI 


PLATE  XXII. 


»LED  BANNER. 


K«T. 


s  ear  -  ly  lipht,  Wliat  so     proudly  wo       hail'd  at  the 
!  perilous   lij^lit.  O'er  tlic  rainparls  we  watch'd  were  so 

its  of  tho    di'ep,  "Where  the  foe's  haughiy  host  in  JreaJ 
)wcr  -  in.,' sttjrp,  As  it  fit-ful-ly       Llovfs,  half  con- 

iiiiilgligi 

bom'.js  b;irsiiiig  in  air,  Gave  proof  through  tho  night  that  our 
he  niornin;,'"s  Hrbl  heain,  In  full  glo  -  ry     rcllocteJ  now 

ERSBURG,  1839  ("BUCKWHEAT"  OR  "PATENT"  NOTES). 


star  Spangled  Banner. 


A^^ 


^\ 


•Vf: 


."'  A  r  J :( '.-^  A  :! ,     ,\  ,;i  H 


i'tauiv  i^ovtc  - 


',,'•  /.  r/.    fril,    :.H.lll  I  I',„,:ll 


6^ 


t  fjy      Sf^KlKl  rfi. 


\,       4:      ♦    i-    •  ^  -      -      -  *",-'" 


^»  ■#^  «  *= 


^     -;  J 


PUBLISHED  BETV 


PLATES  XXIII-XXIV. 


lait^t{-.Hniiic.Whw«»tH-<iihUiri)-f*mA  fiTi^lif  fttar«ihn>  th* 


^ '  ^r 


I       of    Ihrfn. 


HJmtp  thp  foe*  hjituj^htyJiuKt  iadt^^itl  ivilflicf  rejuncs 
H  i,ai    ia-  tlisi  iliic  h  il>«  lir««»e,o'er  the  tovjfririg  ^Krii 
A«  it  fiiruliy  bluKi  half  cunceaU  btM  iit(\utf; 
No«  il   c«tchc»  lh«  iUam.or  the  aprninga  finl  beain. 
In  full  sl.irir  ritieawd  nvw  »liioe»  ih  the  ureia, 

And   :hr  fttar  apui^Ud   hanaer  O'  lung  laay  if  ««\e. 
OVr  lh»  iau'l  at  ibt  trr*,  an. I  tlir  hoaf  of  (hp  b,ra\e. 
5 
Aiiii  *1><f«  la  that  bami  who  w  vauptlnsl^   awore. 
That  (he  havac  cf  «»r  and  the  battlc'a  eunruaiun. 
A  home  anil  a  country  alkali  Ifave  t^a  ro  «ore^ 
'ntir  Uooi  has  »aab'd  out  their  Toul   Tuufafepa  pullu:i..n 
Ko  rcAi^e  could  ta^e.lhv  bircliagauH   aja^e, 
rtom  th«  («rror  »r  ni^ht  ur  the  gloom  of  the  grave 
Aai  Um  nar  a^ncU  banner  in  trinaph  <lulh  wave 
OWtkti'  iaaU  of  the  free,  an.l  (h.-  l.oac  of  Ihe  brne. 
■* 
Otkua  b«  it  ever  »b»*  freeMB  <ha)l  atand, 
Benrecn  their  lov'd  haae,  and  IM  «»ra  deaolalion. 
Bleat  with  vict'rjr  and  peact,  aay  the  hrav'a  reacqi'd  tanii, 
I'raiae  the  Jiow'i   that  bath  wade  and  (ireaerv'd  uaa  naliot 
Then  conquer  «i|  «iuat,'«hcn  our  cauae  U  fa  juat. 
And  (hia  be  uu^.  Au^to —    tn  Cr««t  ia  our  trust; 

And  the  alar  ayangUd  bauixT  ia  Iriuafh  vhall  «a«i 
0Vi~  the   land  of  Uu   free,  and  the  home  of  the  brav.t. 


N  1832  AND  1839. 


1 


\ 


Star  Spangled  Banner. 


V 


1    a*-^H>,,8v«iE.»«^Co^■'43  Maiden  Lai. 


■^^  -1_'°"'  '"'^^'' "'•'  tht^mpart^  we  M«.U\xd  ^..r^  .„  s;»!Unt:y     „t 


GEIB  &  CO.'S  EDITION,   PUBL 


i'.  (inir  rhoras 


^^«^=^:r=^:^g^^P^^^ 


iiiil  oj     tht  frici.     th.        home     .,f    tht- b^li^. />     Sy 


A^/>  /> 


.     .    „,  ►'-'«.■•,  ovr  (III-  lewrring  -iwp,    !  A.  horn' «ni  a  country, -Kuli  l^iT..  ii.  i« 

X  .  .t  filfclly  blow.,  h..f  .  .„-..N,  hKir  .„«l„.,.i  )  Tk...  bro-.J  h»-  „Jb'd  «o.  -h.ir.ou, 
wit  i-ttcWi  tk»  gl»«ra  ..flhr  morniaKS  fir,t  li„ni,  j  No  rrf.^-  '-ulj  -v-  ih.-  Hr-I,t.c  >n.! 
1  ftlli  (florj  rafltct^a  a-w  .Lior.  U.  ih^   .Ii»ub,  i  Fr<.iD  Ih..  t.rror  of  (l.-Kt     rth-  (lo'^w 

Tbili»>tw«^aiiltl«lbanaFi«0!tnii(iB«y  il  warf,        '  And  tk-  ->i.  ipao'tl-.l  b^ni,-p,i,i 

0>r  th«  l«aaofth»rw,  «Ddib«hom,„Iih,  brav*.  t  OVr  ih.  |:,,..i  of  ii...  fr-«,,„,Mh-h> 


U»p».(lo(hW»V» 


Pr»»»*>  th*  R»wV  tbiftt  1 


ED  BETWEEN   1816  AND  1825. 


14  DAY  USE 

MN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  t>'     ' 

MU5IC  LIBrJARY 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 
on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 


"^i^ 

Renewed  books  are  subjea  to  immediate  recall. 

F> 

^K? 

for-. 

^ 

^ti 

•?* 

^^        '  '''"^■' 

p 

^^^         DEC  1  0  1962 

S^ 

5© 

0EC19  1967 

APR0  2  19/a 

/i^ 

JUN  30  1S81 

■■^^_     md  MUSIC 

^t 

^5^        JAN  3  0  1985 

I 

"i^ 

^ 

*^^ 

rM> 

/Sl^ 

fe^ 

r 

Sl^ 

* 

LD  21-50to-6,'59 
(A2845sl0)476 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


'i? 


